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GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY 



"the man whom language cannot exalt." 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 
DAY BY DAY 



BY 

ELIZABETH BRYANT JOHNSTON 

Author of ''Original Portraits of Washington,''^ 

"Christmas in Kentucky, 1862," 

Etc., Etc 




NEW YORK 

THE CYCLE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

MADISON SQUARE 

1895 






Copyright, 1894, by 
Elizabeth Bryant Johnston 



31 



TO 

THE CHILDREN OF MY COUNTRY 

THE ARMY WHICH WASHINGTON SAID COULD 

NEVER BE CONQUERED 




PREFACE. 



T has been claimed, and frequently conceded, that the world — how- 
ever much it may admire the patriot, the warrior, the statesman — 
does not know the man, George Washington. No better way can be 
adopted for the study of the life and character of an individual 
than by the presentation of a direct, well-supported statement of 
events of that life, though, compared with historic narrative, such a work must 
lose in grace of composition. Acting upon this self-evident fact, the author offers 
to students incidents in the life of Washington on the day of their occurrence, 
endeavoring to bring their minds into intimate relation with events, pubKc and 
personal, which show all sides of his character — from which they can draw their 
own conclusions and adjust their own standards. The pui-pose of this book is 
educational — such education as should spring from, flourish in, and be forever 
associated with, the home. As a whole, it is suggestive and intended to arouse 
a spirit of inquiry ; it contains more than a thousand facts illustrating the daily 
walk and conversation of Washington. The field for a work that may be so 
happy as to nourish patriotism extends from ocean to ocean — from the noble 
pines of the North to the cotton-fields of the South. It is with the hope of 
leading the American youth to a direct personal acquaintance with the man 
to whom the world from generation to generation has given the first place in 
American citizenship that this book is offered. It has been a work of labor and 
of love. 

No other country has ever possessed a representative who by all countries 
has been so enthusiastically appreciated. Lord Byron truly says 

"Washington 's a watchword such as ne'er 
Shall sink while there 's an echo left to au-." 

Therefore, any expression of pride we utter may be pardoned. Let us not only 
take pride in Washington's memory, but let us emulate his virtues; and his 
greatest virtue was his sorely tried, self-forgetting, unflinching, exalted pa- 
triotism. 



viii GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

"With the Greeks, love of country was piety. Let it become more a part of 
our religion, that part which rises above all theories, philosophies, and creeds, 
uniting us, if in nothing else, in the divine fellowship of the love of country. 

There is much to encourage the young in the close study of the events in 
"Washington's life, which show an evolution upon philosophical principles — 
from a boyhood loving and strong, a manhood honest and patriotic, to an old 
age illustrious and beloved. The youth of America who have educational advan- = 
tages which "Washington could not command, may develop on the same princi- 
ples, the canons of which are high purpose and duty never ignored. Note 
"Washington's first crude, ill-spelt efforts; and yet, in the years of his laborious 
life he became — to quote one who has studied him in detail — " the most felicitous 
letter-writer of the ages." His letters, it is truly said, are his most complete 
biography, and for that and other reasons should be placed in the hands of every 
American boy and girl. His evolution in mihtary affaii'S was the wonder of all 
Europe. He had no master, was not in the beginning familiar with the dog- 
matic etiquette of academies, nor even with the usual routine, as is indicated by 
his correspondence with Governor Dinwiddle ; yet he learned in the hard school 
of experience, and so developed that at the very opening of the struggle for In- 
dependence he gave severe rebukes to Lord Howe regarding military amenities. 
He never failed to yield all the coui-tesy the enemy could claim; he never failed 
to demand every iota that was his due — not for his own aggrandizement, but for 
the dignity of that body whose servant he was, " The Congress." 

In studying the life of "Washington, one thing cannot be overlooked ; and that 
is, his reverence for law. There were many opportunities in his career when he 
could have exalted the military over the civil ; but to none of these, save under 
dire pressm^e, did he yield. He honored civil authority in letter and in spirit, 
and strove to imbue his soldiers with the same principle. Though a mihtary 
chieftain, he stood with uncovered head before the President of Congress ; and 
when a grateful people wished to perpetuate him in marble, he said : " Let it be 
as a private citizen." A deeper reverence for law and a greater devotion to our 
national institutions are the lessons of the day. The very life of the nation de- 
pends on sustaining the majesty of the law, and instilUug into the hearts of 
American children an earnest reverence for its sacred power. 

This record must of necessity be a disjointed, kaleidoscopic presentation, a 
mosaic of events ; but it is given with the hope of preserving the theme, so that 
the result will be a character-study. The aim wiU have been achieved if the 
youtliful reader reahzes the immense labor, devotion, and chief attributes of 
George"Washington. The difaculties of collecting facts ior this book and of estab- 
hshing events on the day of their occurrence, cannot be appreciated. The neg- 
ligence of biographers — it being so much easier to gracefully describe an event 
than to be exact — has caused labor, doubt, and confusion. Much good work is 
being accomplished in "Washingtoniana, and more penetrating light thrown on 
"the days that tried men's souls." Hale, Ford, Conway, Baker, and Toner have 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. ix 

placed students of history under new and agreeable obligations by presenting the 
real Washington, who will forever fill the niche so long occupied by the ideal 
Washington. The author of " George Washington Day by Day " would do her- 
self injustice if she failed to express earnest gi-atitude for the aid she has re- 
ceived from the rich and eminently trustworthy record of WiUiam S. Baker's 
" Itinerary of General Washington," and from Dr. Joseph M. Toner's conscien- 
tious, painstaking transcriptions of " Washington's Journals." To Dr. Toner, for 
his tenacious regard of truth and absolute adherence to text, the future biogra- 
pher of Washington will owe more than to any other man ; but one regrets that 
Dr. Toner's work is chiefly confined to Washington's youth and early manhood, 
and does not embrace his entire career. 

Washington's life is the history of the early life of the nation ; his name is 
linked with every eminent name and with every pivotal event of the latter half 
of the eighteenth century. This book was written especially for the boys and 
girls of oiu* country, and if, through it, a more earnest patriotism is promoted, 
the writer will have received her reward — the highest to which she can aspire. 
The feature of utilizing it as a birthday souvenir is secondary and incidental ; 
but, if so utilized, it will connect the birthdays of boys and girls with some 
essential service rendered our common country, or with some social or personal 
incident in the life of Washington. 

±j. B. J. 



ILLUSTEATIONS. 



In illustrating " George WasMngton Day by Day," the writer lias endeavored 
to emphasize the great principle, too often ignored, that art promotes patriotism. 
One of the strongest sinews binding the republic of France to-day is the love of 
art, which has been encouraged and protected by the Government. The selections 
of public buildings and headquarters have been as nearly as possible reproduc- 
tions of these historic places as they appeared a century ago. 

The head-bands are all original drawings in which the artist, Mr. E. H. Miller, 
has with skilful pencil introduced or symbolized the events in their respective 
months — each one a beautiful lesson in history. 

The medallion on the cover is after a beautiful miniature by John Ramage 
which has recently been found, having been given to a connection of the famUy. 
In the back of the miniature was inserted " A lock of my dear Lady's hair " ; 
and the monogram in gold, "G. W." 

MOUNT VERNON— WEST FRONT Frontispiece 

MOUNT VERNON— RIVER FRONT Opposite page 1 

PHOTOGRAPHED BY FRANCES B. JOHNSTON. 

In Mount Vernon, where "Washington lived and where he now rests, there cen- 
ters more interest than in any dwelling of the New World. It has been styled 
" The Mecca of America." It is more than that — it is a spot the world holds 
sacred through association with Washington's name, and hallowed by the love 
he gave it. The west side was the entrance, and was approached through a 
heavy woodland from the country road a mile distant. The generous lawn was 
Washington's pleasure: he planted the trees, still standing; planned its walks; 
and ornamented its mounds. On either side were large gardens, orchards, 
and stables. The offices, houses for various industries, and negro • quarters 
were all visible from the hall door. The river front, with its pillared veranda 
facing the broad Potomac, is more beautiful and more familiar. The country 
is not ignorant nor unappreciative of the care given Washington's home by the 
" Ladies' Mount Vernon Association of the Union." 



HEADQUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE Opposite page 17 

DRAWN AFTER PHOTOGRAPH BY H. HOBERT NICHOLS. 

If one could select a synonym for patient suffering, devoted patriotism, heroic 
manhood, " Valley Forge " would embody this sublime triune of virtue. The 



3di GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

headquarters of the Commander-in-chief in the modest stone farm-house of 
Isaac Potts, a thrifty Quaker, have been purchased and are kept in good con- 
dition by " The Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge." The 
oath of allegiance was taken by the army at this camp, General Stii'ling ad- 
ministering it to the officers. It was here that the glad news of the French 
alliance cheered patriot hearts, and from here the Continentals marched to 
Monmouth and to victory. 



HEADQUARTERS AT MORRISTOWN Opposite page 33 

DRAWN AFTER PHOTOGRAPH BY H. HOBERT NICHOLS. 

" The Washington Association of New Jersey " is the faithful custodian of 
the Morristown headquarters, where may be studied one of the most interesting 
collections of relics of the Revolution in the country. It was the commodious 
home of the widow of Colonel Jacob Ford, and was taken possession of by Wash- 
ington in the autumn of 1779. This spot was the scene not only of heart-rend- 
ing suffering, but of some of the grandest pageants of the war. 



CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA Opposite page 41 

DRAWN BY E. H. MILLER. 

This interesting old edifice, antedating the Revolution, and built of brick 
brought from England, has no architectural claims. A slab beside the chancel of 
white marble memorializes the fact of Colonel George Washington having been 
a vestryman of this church, A similar one is placed to the memory of General 
Robert E. Lee, who held the same office. 



FEDERAL HALL Opposite page 49 

DRAWN BY DE LANCEY W. GILL. 

The scene enacted on the balcony of this beautiful old building, April 30, 1789, 
was the solemn inauguration and proclamation to the world of '' a government 
of the people, by the people, for the people." In this stately edifice was Con- 
gress Hall, designed and ornamented by that accomplished French officer. 
Major L'Enfant. This has, most unhappily, not been preserved, and the 
change of name of the edifice to the " Sub-Treasury " is also a matter of regret. 
The citizens of New York have memorialized the spot by a superb statue of 
Washington. The centenary of the " fii'st inaugui'ation " was celebrated with 
great splendor and enthusiasm. 



HEADQUARTERS AT NEWBURG Opposite page 65 

DRAWN BY E. H. MILLER. 

This quaint old Dutch homestead, the Hasbrouck House, was occupied by 
Washington longer than any other place during the struggle for independence ; 



ILLUSTRATIONS. xiii 

and it is probable that if he had been called upon he would have said : " Here 
I most suffered ; here my brave soldiers were most tried." The two years fol- 
lowing Yorktown were a sore test, and the Newburg Addresses bear witness 
that the delays of Congress grew intolerable. Washington's diplomacy was, 
however, equal to the occasion, and his veterans justified the faith he reposed 
in them. But the most important service rendered at Newburg was his " Cir- 
cular Letter " — the plea for Union. 



INDEPENDENCE HALL Opposite page 81 

DRAWN BY E. H. MILLER. 

The drawing of Independence HaU is after an old print presenting this sacred 
edifice as it looked when G-eorge Washington of Virginia was chosen Com- 
mander-in-chief of the Continental army, or on that summer day when the old 
Liberty Bell spoke to the world with brazen tongue the sentiments so pro- 
phetically encircling its rim ; or as it looked at dawn, when the voice rang 
from the belfry the magic words : "A bright morning, and Cornwallis taken." 



HEADQUARTERS AT CAMBRIDGE Opposite page 97 

DRAWN BY E. H. MILLER. 

" The VassaU House," a handsome mansion of old colony days, was destined 
to become famous through two illustrious names — Washington, the founder of 
the nation, and Long-fellow, " the poet of the people." The poet thus wrote 
of the warrior : 



II 



Once, ah, once, within these walls, 
One whom memory oft recalls, 

The 'Father of his Country,' dwelt. 
And yonder meadows, broad and damp, 
The fires of the besieging camp 

Encircled with a burning belt. 
Up and down these echoing stairs, 
Heavy with the weight of cares. 

Sounded his majestic tread ; 
Yes, within this very room, 
Sat he in those houi's of gloom. 

Weary both in heart and head." 



THE ROOER MORRIS HOUSE Opposite page 113 

DRAWN BY MARIE LE PRINCE. 

This handsome residence in Harlem was the home of Captain Roger Morris 
of the British army, who was wounded at Monongahela. His wife, Mary Phil- 
ipse, has the credit of rejecting the suit of Colonel George Washington. This 
house was occupied as headquarters only a few days after the retreat from 
Long Island. It was doubtless down those broad steps that Nathan Hale, our 
martyr soldier, went on his mission to death and immortalitv. 



XIV 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



HEADQUARTERS AT TAPPAN Opposite page 129 

DRAWN BY E. H. MILLER. 

The De Wint House^ a low stone building, the home of a prosperous farmer, 
near the village of Tappan, was several times occupied by General Washing- 
ton. It was here he passed bitter, bitter days realizing the cruel treachery of 
Arnold ; here his signature sealed the fate of Andre ; and here he wi'ote one 
of the most wonderful letters that emanated from his prolific pen, announcing 
to Congress the treason of Arnold. 



THE MOORE HOUSE Opposite page 145 

DRAWN AFTER PHOTOGRAPH BY H. HOBERT NICHOLS. 

This frame-house, about a mile from Yorktown, belonging to the " Widow 
Moore," a daughter of Governor Spotswood, was chosen by General Washington 
on October 18, 1781, as the place where the " Articles for the Surrender of the 
Posts of York and Gloucester " should be drawn up. The house is on Temple 
Farm, so called from " The Temple," an old church of which small trace remains. 
In its vaults were interred many notables ; one of whom was Governor Alexan- 
der Spotswood, the most chivalric figure of his day. He made the first impor- 
tant exploration of the Appalachian Range in 1716. To each of the gentlemen 
who accompanied him he presented a horseshoe of gold, and they were known as 
" The Knights of the Golden Horse Shoe." The Moore House is now owned by 
John Cruikshank, Esq., who receives with graceful hospitality the many pilgrims 
visiting the honored spot. 



PLASTER CAST OF WASHINGTON Opposite page 153 

ENGRAVED FROM THE ORIGINAL. 

In selecting a portrait there was no choice ; for where only one is to be pre- 
sented, the standard likeness must necessarily be chosen. The plaster cast 
given here without the removal of a spot or a scratch, was made from life in 
October, 1785, by the "first statuary of the age," Jean Antoine Houdon, at 
Mount Vernon. This head is a national possession, and as such should be 
jealously cherished. When the United States Government placed the Houdon 
head on our foreign letter-stamp, it introduced to the world the veritable 
Washington. 



HEADQUARTERS AT CUMBERLAND, MD Opposite page 161 

DRAWN BY E. H. MILLER. 

There were limited data from which to produce this, the first headquarters 
of Washington; but the abode of the young Virginia colonel is replete with 
interest. His correspondence with the authorities at Williamsburg, his frantic 
appeals for help to protect the panic-stricken inhabitants on the frontier, fore- 
shadowed his labor with *' the Congress " for supplies of food and clothing for 
the patriot army of the Revolution. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. xv 

HEADQUARTERS AT ROCKY HILL Opposite page 169 

DRAWN BY E, H, MILLER. 

Rocky Hill, the last headquarters of the Revolution, is in a picturesque 
village four miles from Princeton. It was the home of Judge John Berrien, 
and was occupied by Washington a few weeks in the autumn of 1783, when 
summoned to appear before Congress upon the happy mission of the " Peace 
Establishment." In this house the Commander-in-chief wrote his farewell to 
the army — a farewell and a benediction. 



STATE HOUSE AND TREASURY, ANNAPOLIS, MD. Opposite page 177 

DRAWN BY E. H. MILLER. 

In this ancient legislative structure was enacted the last scene of the War of 
Independence — Washington resigning his commission. Here, before the august 
body whose dignity he had so rehgiously maintained, whose authority he had 
so absolutely revered, he with clean hands laid down the command eight years 
before conferred upon him. Small wonder that gallant Maryland cherishes 
the old pile ! The artist was most happy to find data representing the old build- 
ings as they stood on that eventful day. 



FAMILY VAULT, MOUNT VERNON Opposite page 187 

It was in this vault that the bodies of Washington and his wife were first 
laid, and here they remained till 183|. It is represented as it appeared when, / 
in 1824, it was visited by Lafayette. 




GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY FIRST. 

1776 The American flag, or "Flag of the United Colonies," consisting of 
thirteen alternate stripes of red and white, field of blue with crosses of St. 
George and St. Andrew, was first unfurled. Washington wrote to the president 
of Congress : ^' We hoisted the Union Flag in compliment to the United 
Colonies. Raised on prospect hill. Lord Howe, hearing the tremendous shout- 
ing, interpreted it as a demonstration of joy over the King's speech, which they 
had promptly burned." A clause in the Orderly Book of the same day says: 
"This day giving commencement to the new army, which in every point of view 
is entirely continental, the G-eneral flatters himself that a laudable spirit of emu- 
lation will now take place, and pervade the whole of it." 

1777 " To Sundry Exp's paid by myself at different times & places in passing 
from the White plains, by the way of the Kings ferry to Fort Lee, and afterward on 
the Retreat of the Army thro' the Jerseys into Pennsylvania, & while there, £126.4.3. 
To secret services since the Army left Cambridge in April — while it lay at New 
York — and during its retreat as above, 1050 dollars & £284." Washington's 
Account with the U. 8. Government. 

1800 In Philadelphia a "Lodge of Sorrow" was held in memory of their 
beloved brother George Washington by L'Amenite, a French lodge of Ancient 
York Masons. Simon Chaudron delivered an address which was published in 
French and English and widely circulated. 



"He may be described as being straight as an Indian, measuring six feet two inches in his 
stockings, and weighing 175 pounds — when he took his seat in the H. of B. 1759. His frame is 
padded with well developed muscle indicating great strength. His bones and joints are large, 
as are his feet and hands. He is wide shouldered, but has not a deep or round chest; — is neat 
waisted, but is broad across the hips, and has rather long legs and arms. His head is well shaped 
though not large, but is gracefully poised, on a superb neck, a large and straight rather than a prom- 
inent nose ; blue-gray penetrating eyes ; which were widely separated and overhung by heavy 
brows. His face is rather long than broad, with high round cheek bones, and terminates in a 
good firm chin. He had a clear though rather colorless pale skin, which burns with the sun. 
A pleasing, benevolent, though a commanding countenance, dark brown hair, which he wears in 
a cue. His mouth is large and generally firmly closed, but which from time to time discloses 
some defective teeth. His features are regular and placid, with all the muscles of his face un- 
der perfect control." Captain George Mercer ( Virginia). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY SECOND. 



1778 General Washington presented to Congress in terms of high com- 
mendation the names of two volunteer French officers, Count de Fleury and 
Chevalier Duplessis, asking that commissions be given* them " for gallant con- 
duct at Germantown and Brandywine." 

1782 General and Mrs. Washington and a distinguished party, as the guests 
<^ of the French minister, Marquis de la Luzerne, at the Southwark Theater, Phila- 
delphia, witnessed the presentation of " Eugenie," a French comedj^, by Beaumar- 
chais. An apotheosis of the beloved Commander was exquisitely introduced, with 
the inscription, " Washington, the pride of his country and terror of Britain." 

1788 The State of Georgia adopted the Federal Constitution. 

1794 President Washington sent to the Senate thenames of Edmund Randolph, 
to succeed Jefferson as Secretary of State ; Timothy Pickering, to follow Knox as 
n Secretary of War ; James McHenry, as Secretary of the Navy ; and William 
Bradford of Pennsylvania, to replace Randolph as Attorney-General. These ap- 
pointments were promptly confirmed. 



*' When we look at Washington, we are at once struck by seeing how in him, who represented 
as a military man the force of the new ideas which were at work, we have also as a thinker, as 
a statesman and political philosopher, the clearest example of the reason of which that force 
was the expression. Often the two are disunited. One man does the thinking, another man 
does the fighting. One man develops the idea in the closet, and another makes it forcible in the 
field. Rarely have the two so met in one man." 

Phillips Brooks, D. D., Bishop of Massachusetts. 

JANUARY THIRD. 

1777 The battle of Princeton was this day fought. The Commander-in-chief, 
"leaving his camp fires burning" to deceive the enemy, led his troops during the 
night "by a round-about road," and surprised and attacked the British, gaining 
one of the most brilliant and important victories of the struggle for Indepen- 
dence. This battle secured for the General of the New World the admiration 
of the great military minds of Europe. 

1780 The camp at Morristown was buried in a severe snow-storm — some 
places fuUy six feet. The suffering for food and clothing by the patriot army 
was a matter of deep trouble and anxiety to their General. To the magistrates 
of New Jersey he wrote : " The present situation of the army, with respect to 
provisions, is the most distressing of any we have experienced since the begin- 
ning of the war. For a fortnight past the troops, both officers and men, have 
been almost perishing for want." 



"The name of Washington is inseparably linked with a memorable epoch. He adorned 
this epoch by his talents and the nobility of his character, and with virtues that even envy 
dared not assail. History affords few examples of such renown. Great from the outset of his 
career, patriotic before his country became a nation, despite the passions and political resent- 
ment that desired to check his career, his fame remained imperishable. His public actions and 
unassuming grandeur in private life were living examples of courage, wisdom, and usefulness." 

Talleyrand {France). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY FOURTH. 



1758 The liardshii)s of frontier campaigns had so reduced Washington that 
his friends became seriously alarmed. Colonel George Mason of Gunston Hall 
wrote him at Mount Vernon: "A gentleman of your station owes the care of 
his health and his life not only to himself and his friends, but to his country." 

1776 The Commander-in-chief wrote from Cambridge to the president of 
Congress, John Hancock, at Baltimore: "It is not in the pages of history, 
perhaps, to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a post, within musket-shot of 
the enemy, for six months together (without powder), and at the same time to 
disband one army and recruit another, within that distance of twenly odd 
British regiments, is more^ probably, than was ever attempted." 

1796 President Washington sent to Congress ''The Colors of France," 
presented to him as Chief Executive of the United States through Citizen Adet, 
French Ambassador. He also sent to Congress the address of the Ambassa- 
dor, with his reply. Congress ordered these colors preserved in the archives of 
the Department of State. 



"Born, sir, in a land of liberty, having early learned its value, having engaged in a peiilous 
conflict to defend it ; having, in a word, devoted the best years of my life to secure its perma- 
nent establishment in my own country; my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, and 
my best wishes, are irresistibly attracted whensoever in any country I see an oppressed nation 
unfurl the banner of freedom." Washington to Pierre Auguste Adet. 

JANUARY FIFTH. 

1777 General Washington, pushing his troops on to Morristown after 
the battle, reported — "The rear of the enemy's army lying not more than six 
miles from Princeton was up with us before our pursuit was over, but as I had 
the precaution to destroy the bridge over Stony Brook, they were so long 
retarded there as to give us time to move off in good order for this place." 
Colonel Leslie, a British of&cer who fell at Princeton, was by the order of Wash- 
ington buried with the honors of war. During this engagement the American 
General had expressed his admiration of the way " those noble fellows fight." 

1778 The Commander-in-chief set before Congress the urgent needs of his 
soldiers, asking that body to attend to certain abuses in the Com'y. Dep't., saying, 
' ' The army has been fed from hand to mouth ever since Mr. Trumbull left." He 
also expressed gratitude for the " one month's extraordinary pay voted by Con- 
gress for their soldierly patience, fidelity and zeal in the cause of their country." 

1785 Benjamin Harrison wrote Washington "that the Assembly, with- 
out a dissenting voice, complimented you with 50 shares in the Potomac Com- 
pany, and 100 in the James River Company. As this compliment is intended 
by your Country in commemoration of your assiduous care to promote her 
interests, I hope you will have no scruples in accepting the present, and thereby 
gratifying them in their most earnest wishes." 



"Washington has shown himself both a Fabius and a Camillus. His march through our 
lines is acknowledged to have been a prodigy of generalship." Horace Walpole {England). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY SIXTH. 



1759 Colonel "Wasliington and Mrs. Martha Dandridge Custis were married 
at the bride's residence, *' Whitehouse," New Kent County, Virginia, by the Rev. 
Dr. Mossum, rector of St. Peter's, The ceremony took place on Saturday at 
high noon. The bride was attired in a heavy brocaded silk interwoven with 
silver threads ; embroidered satin petticoat, high-heeled satin shoes with buckles 
of brilliants, point lace rufftes. Her ornaments were pearls, necklace, earrings 
and bracelets. The bridegroom appeared in citizen's dress of blue cloth, the 
coat lined with red silk, and ornamented with silver trimmings, and the waist- 
coat of embroidered white satin. The shoe and knee buckles were of gold. 
His hair was powdered, and at his side hung a dress sword. 

1791 The President, at Southwark Theater, Philadelphia, saw Dunlap's 
play " The Poor Soldier." Two nights previous he had seen " The School for 
Scandal." The reception of the Executive at the theater was an occasion of 
ceremony. A guard was placed at each door, and four soldiers were in the gal- 
lery. The manager, bearing two lighted candles, in tall silver candlesticks, 
stood at the box door until the illustrious guest was seated. 



"Dignity with ease and complacency, the gentleman and soldier look agreeably blended in 
him. Modesty marks every line and feature of his face. These lines of Dryden instantly oc- 
curred to me: tv/t i au- ■ t.- h -u ■ x. , 

Mark this majestic fabric, he 's a temple 

Sacred by birth and built by hands divine : 
His soul 's the deity that lodges there ; 
Nor is the pile unworthy of the god." 

Abigail Adams {Massachusetts), 1775, 

JANUARY SEVENTH. 

1754 Major Washington reached Wills Creek from Fort Le Boeuf, having 
been two months in the Wilderness exposed to great peril. During this period 
he had penetrated several hundred miles of primeval forest, encountered treach- 
erous savages, propitiated powerful chiefs, and given abundant evidence of abil- 
ity, courage, and diplomacy. He had now entered a school of severe training 
preparing him for a most eventful career. 

1759 Colonel and Mrs. Washington attended morning service at St. Peter's 
Church, New Kent County, Virginia. They came in bridal state, coach and four, 
and a train of wedding guests, among whom were Speaker John Robinson and 
members of the House of Burgesses. 

1776 On Monday evening, at the Craigie House, Mrs. Washington, assisted 
by Mrs. John Parke Custis, received the ladies of the army, and of the city of 
Cambridge, unostentatiously celebrating the seventeenth anniversary of her mar- 
riage. We learn from Dorothy Dudley's quaint record of this social event that 
the wife of the General made a happy impression. Martha Washington was 
a remarkable woman. Suddenly placed in a position of eminence, she was so 
well poised that she never challenged criticism, nor called forth the darts of envy. 



" As long as human hearts shall anywhere pant, or human tongue shall anywhere plead, for a 
true, rational constitutional liberty, those hearts shall enshrine the memory, and those tongues 
shall prolong the fame, of George Washington." Robert C. Winthroj) (Massachusetts). 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY EIGHTH. 



1783 General Washington wrote Robert R. Livingston from Newburg, com- 
menting npon the indirect way our independence had been acknowledged. " The 
King, I dare say, felt some severe pangs at the time he put his hand to the Let- 
ters Patent. It is not however less efficacious or pleasing on that account, and 
breaking the Ice is a great point gained. What offtce is Mr. Jefferson appointed 
to, that he has, you say, lately accepted? If it is that of Commissioner of 
Peace, I hope he will arrive too late to have any hand in it." 

1790 President Washington delivered his first annual address to Congress 
at New York. He came in his coach drawn by four horses, preceded by his sec- 
retaries, Colonel Humphreys and Major Jackson, on horseback; followed by his 
chariot containing other members of the official household. He was received by 
the door-keeper, and escorted to the senate-chamber, where both houses were as- 
sembled. He urged Congress to remember, '' That to be prepared for war is one 
of the most effectual means of preserving peace." He also congratulated the 
country upon the recent accession to the Union of the important State of North 
Carolina, official information having been received of her adoption of the Consti- 
tution, November 21, 1789. 



" Washington illustrated and adorned the civilization of Christianity, and furnished an exam- 
ple of the -wisdom and perfection of its teachings which the subtlest arguments of its enemies 
cannot impeach. That one grand, rounded life, full-orbed with intellectual and moral glory, is 
worth, as the product of Christianity, more than all the dogmas of all the teachers ! " 

Zebulon B. Vance {North Carolina). 

JANUARY NINTH. 

1780 General Washington at Morristown, writing to the gallant General 
Irvine, said : '' Circumstanced as things are, men half starved, imperfectly 
clothed, riotous, and robbing the country people of their subsistence from sheer 
necessity, I think it scarcely possible to embrace any moment, however favora- 
ble in other respects, for visiting the enemy on Staten Island ; and yet if this 
frost should have made a firm and solid bridge between them and us I should 
be unwilling, indeed I cannot relinquish the idea of attempting it." 

1782 From Philadelphia Washington wrote to Lafayette, in Paris : ^' The 
enemy have evacuated all their posts in South Carolina, and concentrated their 
whole force in Charleston. Wilmington is also evacuated, and North Carolina 
is freed from its enemies. The disaffected part of the State are suing for mercy, 
and executing, it is said, some of their leaders for having misguided them." 

1788 The State of Connecticut adopted the Federal Constitution. 

1790 President Washington said to that gifted Scotchwoman Mrs. Catha- 
rine Macaulay Graham : " In our progress towards political happiness my station 
is new, and, if I may use the expression, I walk on untrodden ground. There is 
scarcely any part of my conduct which may not therefore be drawn into prece- 
dent. . . . That the government, though not actually perfect, is one of the best 
in the world, I have little doubt." 



" George Washington was a star of the first magnitude, with an orbit which is not circum- 
scribed according to human intelligence. Whether as soldier or civilian, he is 'pinnacled dim 
in the intense inane,' and has no companion in glory!" Samuel Sullivan Cox (Ohio). 



6 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY TENTH. 



1778 Congress appointed Francis Dana, John Harvie, Joseph Reed, Nathaniel 
Folsom, Charles Carroll, and Gouverneur Morris to visit Valley Forge, to confer 
with Washington, and " mature a new system of arrangements for the adminis- 
tration of the army." Their sessions were held in '^ Moore Hall," a country-seat 
about three miles from headquarters ; and they remained three months devising 
plans, and submitted a report to Congress which was approved. 

1783 From Newburg Washington wrote Colonel Tench Tilghman : " Mrs. 
Washington has received the shoes you ordered for her, and thanks you for your 
attention to her request. I receive with great sensibility and pleasure your as- 
surance of affection and regard. It would be but a renewal of what I have often 
repeated to you, there are few men in the world to whom I am more attached by 
inclination than I am to you." 

1788 General Washington, writing to Marquis de Lafayette from Mount 
Vernon, said regarding the intention of Catharine, Empress of Russia, to gather 
about her scholars for the purpose of issuing a " Universal Dictionary of Lan- 
guages " : " To know the affinity of tongues, seems to be one step towards pro- 
moting the affinity of nations." 



" I have formed as higli an opinion of the powers of his mind, his moderation, his patriotism 
and his virtues, as I had before conceived from common report, of his military talent, and of 
the incalculable services which he has rendered his country." Gerard, French Minister. 

JANUARY ELEVENTH. 

M ' 1776 The Commander-in-chief in his appeal for active measures to Congress, 

then sitting in Baltimore, said : " Experience teaches us it is much easier to 
prevent an enemy from posting themselves than to dislodge them after they have 
possession." 

1781 General Washington reported to Congress: "A mutiny was excited by 
the non-commissioned officers and privates of the Pennsylvania line, which soon 
became so universal as to defy all opposition. The only favorable circumstance 
is their not having attempted to make a push for the enemy." A council of 
war to consider this calamity was held at General Heath's headquarters. West 
Point, when all minds were greatly relieved by the following despatch : 

"I, the President of the Council of Pennsylvania, and a Committee of Congress made this 
day a satisfactory agreement with the mutinied troops at Trenton." Joseph Reed. 

1796 Washington commented upon the personal attacks made on him, say- 
ing, " Mr. Paine's letter to me, printed in this city, is disseminated with great 
industry " ; of William Cobbett, alias Peter Porcupine, he said : '' Making allow- 
ances for the asperity of an Englishman, for some of his strong and coarse expres- 
sions, and a want of official information of many facts, it is not a bad thing." 



" A character of virtues, so happily tempered by one another and so wholly unalloyed by any 
vices, as that of Washington, is hardly to be found on the pages of history. For him it has been 
reserved to run the race of glory, without experiencing the smallest interruption to the brilliancy 
of his career." Charles James Fox {England). 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY TWELFTH. 



1777 The gallant General Hugh Mercer, of Virginia, who was mortally 
wounded at Princeton, died at Clarke's farm-house near the battle-field. He ex- 
pired in the arms of his aide-de-camp. Major Howell Lewis, who under a flag of 
truce had been sent to the wounded officer, by his uncle the Commander-in-chief. 

1780 In council of war at Morristown, Washington announced his deter- 
mination to take advantage of the firm ice and surprise the enemy on Staten 
Island. Lord Stirling was given the command, five hundred sleighs were ordered, 
and the date fixed for the attack. Tories in the neighborhood reported the ex- 
pedition, and it had to be abandoned. 

1797 Being anxious to discover the source of the seven " Spurious letters," 
which had again been circulated. President Washington wrote to Benjamin 
Walker, Esq., to make every effort to trace them to their source. He said in 
conclusion : '' I offer to you and Mrs. Walker the compliments of the season, and 
you will do me the justice to believe, they are warmer than the weather." 



"George Washington has no superior. Humanity is proud of his name. He seems to have 
approached as near perfection as any man who ever Uved. In his wonderful career we become 
familiar with all the struggles of the American Revolution. With a feeble soldiery, called from a 
population of less than three millions of people, he baffled all efforts of the fleets and armies of 
Great Britain, the most powerful empire upon this globe." Bei\ John S. C. Abbott. 

JANUARY THIRTEENTH. 

1756 Colonel Washington placed before Governor Dinwiddle the complica- 
tions arising from officers in the regular service refusing to obey the orders of 
their superiors in the militia. This resulted in Washington, at the request of the 
Virginia officers, going to Boston for the purpose of laying the matter before 
Governor Shirley, the commander-in-chief of the Colonial forces. 

1777 General Washington wrote to General Lord Howe : " I am again under 
the necessity of remonstrating to you upon the treatment which our prisoners 
continue to receive in New York. Those, who have lately been sent out, give the 
most shocking account of their barbarous usage, which their miserable emaciated 
countenances confirm. Most of the prisoners who have returned home, have in- 
formed me that they were offered better treatment, provided they would enlist 
into your service. TMSy" he added, with the dignity of a veteran commander, 
" I believe, is tmprecedented." 

1791 The President wrote Governor Beverly Randolph in regard to his per- 
sonal indorsement of the Virginia Legislature establishing a certain woolen manu- 
factory : '* I am told that it is felony to export the machines, which it is probable 
the artist contemplates to bring with him, and it certainly would not carrj^ an 
aspect very favorable to the dignity of the United States for the President, in a 
clandestine manner, to entice the subjects of another nation to violate its laws.'' 



" Your Hero (Washington) without the lictor of Cineinnatus was obeyed, conquers, and re- 
tires without the foul stain of blood." I)r. Lettsom (London), of the Society of Friends. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY FOURTEENTH. 



1777 The Commander-in-chief instructed his secretary, that "particular 
attention should be given ta the surgeon sent by Lord Cornwallis to take charge 
of their wounded at Princeton. He will more than probably convey a true 
account of your numbers, which ought to be a good deal magnified." General 
Mercei-'s funeral took place in Philadelphia. This brilliant patriot was followed 
to his tomb by thousands, foes vying with fi'iends in rendering him homage. 

1783 Washington from Newbui-g gave the following advice to his nephew 
Bushrod, afterward associate justice of the Supreme Court : '' Remember that 
it is not the mere study of the law, but to become eminent in the profession of 
it, which is to yield honor and profit. The first was your choice ; let the second 
be your ambition, and that dissipation is incompatible with both ; that the com- 
pany in which you will improve most, will be least expensive to you; yet I am 
not such a stoic as to suppose that you should always be in company with Sena- 
tors and philosophers ; but of the young and juvenile kind let me advise you to 
be choice. It is easy to make acquaintances but very difficult to shake them off. 
Be courteotis to all but intimate with few." 



"There is no nation so lost to a sense of humanity as not to revere his name. The Heathen 
will drop a tear to his memory. The tawuy tribes beyond the western mountains will pierce 
the heavens with their cry of grief, and bow with reverence to every portrait which bears the 
name of Washington." Timothy Alden {New Hampshire), 1800. 

JANUARY FIFTEENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, discouraged by delays and sectional strife, 
said: "I have often thought how much happier I should have been, if, instead of 
accepting the command under such circumstances, I had taken my musket on 
my shoulder and entered the ranks, or if I could have justified the measure to 
posterity, and my own conscience, had retired to the back country and lived in 
a wigwam." 

1781 General Washington wrote from New Windsor to Mrs. Sarah Bache 
thanking her, and the ladies of " The Philadelphia Association," for soldiers' 
clothing, one item of which was two thousand and five shirts. He said: "The 
value of the donation will be greatly enhanced by a consideration of the hands 
by which it was made and presented. Amidst all the distresses and sufferings 
of the army, from whatever sources they have arisen, it must be a consolation to 
our virtuous countrywomen, that they have never withheld their most zealous 
efforts to support the cause." Mrs. Sarah Franklin Bache was associated in 
patriotic charity with the estimable and lamented Esther Reed, wife of Colonel 
Joseph Reed, so long secretary of Washington. 



"My fine crab tree walking-stick, with a gold head curiously wrought in the form of the cap 
of Liberty, I give to my friend and the friend of mankind, Ge'ueral Washington. If it were a 
sceptre he has merited it ; and would become it. It was a present to me from that excellent 
woman Madame De Forbaeh— the Dowager Duchess of Deux Fonts, connected with some 
verses which should go with it." Franklin's WiU— Codicil. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY SIXTEENTH. 



1775 In Washiugt oil's diary this entry is made: "Went up to Alexandria 
to a review of the Independent Company, and to choose a Com*:f for the county 
of Fairfax." Ten days later is recorded, " Went up to Alexandria to an intended 
meeting of the Trustee's, none met, stayed in Alexandria al-night-& bo.* a parcel 
of servants." 

1791 The President wrote to Edward Rutledge that, soon after the adjourn- 
ment of Congress on March 4th, ''I shall most assuredly indulge myself in a 
tour through the Southern States. It was among my first determinations when 
I entered upon the duties of my present station to visit every part of the United 
States in the course of my administration of the Government, provided my 
health and circumstances would admit of it." 

1795 President Washington wrote a long letter to his adopted daughter, 
Nellie Parke Custis, who was on a visit to her mother, Mrs. David Stuart of Vir- 
ginia, in reply to a description of her first baU, which embraced some tender 
confidences: "Love is said to be an involuntary passion, and it is therefore con- 
tended, that it cannot be resisted. This is true in part only, for like all things 
else ; when nourished and supplied plentifully with aliment, it is rapid in its 
progress ; but let these be withdi'awn, it may be stifled in its birth, or much 
stunted in its growth." 



"Never perhaps was the memory of man so honored; for never had there lived before a 
public man whose virtues only can be remembered." 

Joseph Gales (National Intelligencer, Washington). 

JANUARY SEVENTEENTH. 

1754 Major Washington arrived at Williamsburg, and from rough notes, 
taken in the Wilderness, wrote his entire "Journal to the Ohio." This re- 
markable record, giving in detail his mission to Fort le Boeuf, was read the fol- 
lowing day before the Governor and Council in obedience to the command of 
Dinwiddle, who sent printed copies to the " Lords of the Board of Trade, Lon- 
don," and to the governors of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The young officer 
wrote his brother: "I traveled ten days through one continued Series of cold wet 
Weather stopping at Belvoir one day to take necessary Rest." 

1776 The Commander-in-chief at Cambridge, after much consideration, pre- 
pared minute instructions regulating pay of the army. They were delivered 
the following day to General Sullivan for his guidance and immediate use. 
In council of war it was determined that the General should request of the 
neighboring colonies thirteen regiments of militia, that would serve untU April 
first, to justify an attack on Boston. 

1779 Mrs. Sarah Bache wrote to her father Benjamin Franklin in Paris, that 
at a party given on his birthday (Jan. 6th, O. S.) by Mr. Samuel Powel of 
Philadelphia, she had danced with General Washington, who said it was also 
their anniversary, as he and Mrs. Washington had been married twenty vears 
that day (N. S.). 

" There were men in his day who were his superior in some things ; but, taken as a whole, 
he had no superior and no equal. The age needed the man, and the man came to meet the 
wants of the age." The Independent {New York). 



10 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

JANUARY EIGHTEENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, upon receiving the melancholy intelligence 
of the fall of " the brave Montgomery," and the repulse of our troops in their 
attempt against the city of Quebec, caUed a council of general officers of the 
army *' to determine upon the necessary steps to be taken upon the alarming 
occasion." John Adams, then at Watertown, was present at Washington's re- 
quest. 

1777 The Commander-in-chief at Morristown, in reviewing the situation to 
General Schuyler, said: "The enemy, by two lucky strokes at Trenton and 
Princeton, have been obliged to abandon every part of New Jersey, except Bruns- 
wick and Amboy ; I hope by preventing them from sending their foraging par- 
ties to any great distance to reduce them to the utmost distress, in the course of 
this Winter." 

1779 General Washington attended the banquet given by Congress at Phila- 
delphia, in celebration of the French alliance. During this visit, at the request 
of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, he sat to Captain Charles 
Wilson Peale for a portrait. This picture when finished was hung in the coun- 
cil-chamber, and two years afterward a mob destroyed it and other valuable 
property of the city. 



" We have not been unattentive observers of the career of this illustrious man, from the 
period of Ms assuming command of the revolutionary anny of America ; and we do not hesitate 
to pronounce him the greatest character in modern times ; and perhaps, with all the embellish- 
ments of fabulous and partial historians, there is scarcely one in the annals of antiquity that will 
bear a comparison." Marquis Louis de Fontancs (^Temple of Mars, Paris), 1800. 

JANUARY NINETEENTH. 

1784 From the close of the war to the meeting of the Constitutional Con- 
vention was a crucial period. Washington's anxiety was great ; but for every 
one he had a word of comfort. To Benjamin Harrison he wrote : " I believe 
all things will come right at last, but like a young heir, come a little prema- 
turely to a large inheritance, we shall wanton and run riot until we have brought 
our reputation to the brink of ruin." 

1791 In the President's address to the chiefs of the Seneca Nation, whom he 
received at the Executive Mansion, Philadelphia, he said : " You may, when you 
return from this city to your own country, mention to your nation my desire to 
promote their prosperity, by teaching the use of domestic animals, and the man- 
ner that the whites plough and raise so much corn ; and if it would be agreeable 
to the nation at large to learn these arts, I will find some means of teaching them 
at such places within their country as shall be agreed upon." 

1797 The injuries sustained by American commerce in the West Indies, 
from the cruisers and agents of the French Republic, having produced an irritat- 
ing and unsatisfactory relation between the two governments, the President sent 
a message to Congress, in which he gave a careful review of these transactions, 
and the policy he wished this government to pursue. 



"In my judgment the principles announced by Washington in 1797 are the true principles 
for to-day ; what was wise then is wise now." Henry TV. Hilliard (Alabama). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 11 

JANUARY TWENTIETH. 

1784 In answer to the address of "The Yankee Club," Stewardstown, 
County Tyrone, Ireland, Washington wrote from Mount Vernon : " If in the 
course of our successful contest, any good consequences have resulted to the op- 
pressed Kingdom of Ireland, it will afford a new source of felicitation to all who 
respect the interest of humanity." 

1793 Washington wrote to Henry Lee referring to his reelection by a fuU 
vote of the Electoral College : " A mind must be insensible indeed, not to be 
gratefully impressed by so distinguished and honorable a testimony of public 
approbation and confidence ; and as I suffered my name to be contemplated on 
this occasion, it is more than probable I should, for a moment, have experienced 
chagrin, if my re-election had not been by a pretty respectable vote." 

1800 The last will and testament of George Washington was filed at the 
Fairfax County court, by his executors, Lawrence Lewis, Samuel and George 
Steptoe Washington, attested by Charles Little Simms and Ludwell Lee. A 
clause in this document reads as follows : " Upon the decease of my wife, it is 
my will and desire that all the slaves which I hold in my own right shall have 
their freedom." 



" The majestic story of that life — whether told in the pages of Marshall or Sparks, of Irving 
or Bancroft, or through the eloquent utterances of Ames or Webster, or Everett or Winthrop, 
or the matchless poetry of Lowell, or the verse of Byron — never grows old. 

"We love to hear again what the great Frederick and Napoleon, what Erskine and Fox and 
Brougham and Talleyrand and Fontanes and Guizot said of him, and how crape enshrouded 
the standards of France, and the flags upon the victorious ships of England fell fluttering to 
half-mast at the tidings of his death." Melville W. Fuller, Chief Justice. 

JANUARY TWENTY-FIRST. 

1782 The Commander-in-chief, for the purpose of levying new troops, wrote 
a circular letter to the States, saying, "To bring this war to a speedy and happy 
conclusion, must be the fervent wish of every lover of his country, and sure I 
am, that no means are so likely to effect these, as vigorous preparations for an- 
other campaign." 

1783 General Washington sent a letter of condolence to Lady Stirling, upon 
the sudden death of her husband, William Alexander, Lord Stirling, concluding 
with, " It will doubtless be a soothing consideration in the poignancy of your 
grief, to find that the general officers are going into mourning." 

1790 President Washington, at the Executive Mansion, received, and enter- 
tained to their manifest delight, a delegation of Caughnawaga Indians. Notwith- 
standing the demands of his official life, his interest in agricultural matters 
never flagged, as is indicated by a note in his diary on the following day — "Called 
in my ride on the Baron de Poelnitz to see the operation of his Wmlow's Thrash- 
ing Machine." ♦ 



"I need not tell you [Eichard Henry Lee] who have known so thoroughly the sentiments of 
my heart, that I have a very high regard for the late Commander-in-chief of our army ; and I 
now most sincerely believe that, while President Washington continues in the chair, he will be 
able to give to all men a satisfactory reason for every instance of his public conduct." 

Samuel Adams {Massachusetts), 1789. 



12 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

JANUARY TWENTY-SECOND. 

1776 A party of Caiighnawaga Indians came to visit the army at Cambridge, 
and pay their resipects to the Commander-in-chief. " General Washington treats 
them with great attention, and will exert himself to make their stay one of enjoy- 
ment, that they may go away feeling the greatness and strength of our govern- 
ment and our friendship toward their nation." 

1781 The Commander-in-chief, Marquis de Lafayette, Count Dumas, and 
several other French oificers spent the day at West Point. In consequence of 
Lafayette still suffering from the wound received at Brandy wine, they returned 
to New Windsor by boat, and were in imminent danger from heavy ice. Wash- 
ington, seeing the alarm of the boat-master, took the helm and said to the ofi&- 
cers : " Courage, my friends, I am going to conduct you, since it is my duty to 
hold the helm." 

1784 Washington wrote to the secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson, 
asking permission to retain his original commission — the only personal request 
he ever made of the government. This valuable relic may be seen at the head- 
quarters, Morristown, having been presented by Frederick J. Dreer to the " Wash- 
ington Association of New Jersey." 



" True to his country, true to his trust in God, who was his strength and his refuge ; true to 
training and to himself, what more can we add to our tribute of grateful praise to God for the 
Christian character and consistent patriotism of Washington." 

William Stevens Perry, Bishop of Rhode Island. 

JANUARY TWENTY-THIRD. 

1783 " The evacuation of Charleston (December 14th) and the total libera- 
tion of the southern states from the power of the enemy, are important events, 
of which the Commander-in-Chief has now received official information. It is 
with heartfelt satisfaction he takes an early opportunity of making it known, 
and of congratulating the army on the favorable prospect before us. The 
enemy after more than seven years war, and all their boasted conquests, being 
now reduced to narrower limits and a weaker force than they were possessed of 
seven years ago." — Orderly Book (Neivhurg). 

1790 During the winter the President gave his former aide-de-camp, Colonel 
Trumbull, a number of sittings for a full-length portrait. In his diary he wrote: 
" Went with Mrs. Washington in the forenoon to see the painting of Mr. John 
Trumbull." 

1799 Washington wrote to his nephew Colonel Lawrence Lewis, that, as 
guardian of NeUie Custis, he had been to Alexandria to authorize the issuing of 
a license for their marriage. His gift to the bride was a harpsichord, ordered 
from London at a cost of $1,000. This quaint old instrument is now in the 
music room at Mount Vernon, having been presented by the daughter-in-law 
of Nellie Custis, Mrs. Lorenzo Lewis of Virginia, to the *' Ladies' Mount Vernon 
Association of the Union." 



"To George Washington, the hero, the citizen of the new and illustrious liberty; the land 
of Solon, Themistocles, and Pericles, the mother of ancient liberty, sends this ancient stone as 
a testimony of honor and admiration from the Parthenon." 

{Marble hlock sent by Greece for Washington Monument.) 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 13 

JANUARY TWENTY-FOURTH. 

1778 The Commander-in-chief urged upon Governor Trumbull the impor- 
tance of having uniforms for his Connecticut troops, suggesting some details 
and thanking him for the exertion he had made to clothe the men ; he added : 
" If you cannot get all the clothes readily made up, I think you had better send 
part of the cloth here, and the regimental tailors will soon make them up, under 
the inspection of their officers." 

1791 From the Executive Mansion at Philadelphia, President "Washington 
issued a proclamation to the commissioners appointed by Congress — Thomas 
Johnson of Maryland, Daniel Carroll of Maryland, and David Stuart of Virginia — 
to begin the survey of the '^Federal Territory, designated for the permanent 
Seat of Government." 

1795 To Edmund Pendleton of Virginia, the eminent jurist, the President 
wi'ote: '^ The madness of the European powers, and the calamitous situation into 
which all of them are thrown by the present ruinous war, ought to be a serious 
warning to us to avoid a similar catastrophe. What will be the result of Mr. 
Jay's mission is more than I am able to disclose. Charged as he has'been with 
all matters in dispute between the two countries, there would be a large field of 
discussion." 



"His conduct has always been so uniformly manly, honorable, just, patriotic and disinter- 
ested, that his greatest enemies cannot fix on any one trait of his character that deserves the 
least censure." Henry Wansey {England). 

JANUARY TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1776 The Caughnawaga sachems, squaws, and papooses left Cambridge. The 
evening before they had dined at Colonel Mifflin's with General Washington. 
He, perfectly understanding the Indian character, awed them greatly by intro- 
ducing them with impressive ceremony to John Adams, " a chief of the Great 
Council Fire at Philadelphia." 

1777 The Commander-in-chief, from Morristown, issued a proclamation com- 
manding all persons who had taken the oath of allegiance to Great Britain to 
repair to headquarters within thirty days, deliver up such protection, "and 
take the oath of allegiance to the United States of America, or forthwith to 
withdraw themselves and family within the enemy's lines." 

1781 To Quartermaster-General Colonel Pickering, Washington wrote at 
New Windsor : " Sir, my horses I am told have not had a mouthful of long or 
short forage for three days. They have eaten up their mangers and are now, 
(though wanted for immediate use,) scarcely able to stand." 



" Faith, you and Applecrow were right "Some daring Hancock, or a Franklin 
To keep the Highlan' hounds in sight ; May set their Highlan' bluid a-ranklin', 

I doubt na, they wad bid na better Some Washington again may head them ; 

Than let them ance out owre the water ; Or some Montgomery, fearless, lead them ; 

Then up amang thae lakes and seas. Till God knows what may be effected 

They '11 mak' what rules an' laws they please ; When by such heads and hearts directed." 

Robert Burns (Scotland). 



14 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY 



JANUARY TWENTY-SIXTH. 



1756 Colonel "Washington, from the frontier, made an eloquent appeal to 
'j n Lord Dinwiddie for justice to his Virginia troops, demanding through that offi- 
cial royal recognition. He said : '' We cannot conceive that because we are 
Americans, we should therefore be deprived of the benefits common to British 
subjects, nor that it should lessen our claim to preferment. And we are certain 
that no Body of Regular Troops ever before served three bloody campaigns with- 
out royal notice." 

1780 Congress, approving of the findings of the court martial, ordered that 
General Benedict Arnold be publicly reprimanded by the Commander-in-chief, 
which duty "Washington performed at Morristown with singular delicacy, sym- 
pathy, and fidelity. He said : " Our profession is the chastest of all. Even the 
shadow of a fault tarnishes the lustre of our finest achievements. The least in- 
advertence may rob us of the pubhc favor so hard to be acquired. I reprimand 
you, for having forgotten that, in proportion as you have rendered yourself 
formidable to our enemies, you should have been guarded and temperate towards 
your fellow citizens. Exhibit anew those noble qualities which have placed you 
on the list of our most valued commanders. I will, myself, furnish you, as far 
as it may be in my power, with opportunities of regaining the esteem of your 
country." 



" England missed the sobriety, the self command, the perfect soundness of judgment, the 
perfect rectitude of intention, to which the history of revolutions furnishes no parallel, or fur- 
nishes a parallel in "Washington alone." 

Thomas Bahington Macaulay {Eulogy on John Hampden). 

JANUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1778 From Valley Forge the Commander-in-chief replied to General Gates 
in regard to the " Irruption into Canada." He said : "As I neither kn^w the ob- 
jects in view, nor the means to be employed to effect them, it is not m my power 
to pass any judgement upon the subject." A diplomatic response, as "Washing- 
ton knew the project of Gates and Conway was to weaken him ; a part of their 
plan was the withdrawal of Lafayette from his personal association. 

1796 The Senate confirmed James McHenry, of Maryland, as Secretary of 
"War. The President in offering him the office had frankly written, that it had 
been tendered to General Pinckney, Colonel Carrington, and Governor Howard. 
" I press you for an immediate answer, as the public service is suffering much for 
want of a head to the Department of "War." 

1799 General "Washington, writing to James McHenry, Secretary of "War, 
concerning the new uniforms for the officers of the provisional army, illustrates 
how closely he studied detail, when he said, referring to the uniforms for the 
provisional army, " I am against all embroidery, but if it is on the cape, cuffs, 
and pockets of the coat, and none on the buff waistcoat, would it not have a dis- 
jointed appearance ? " 



"You are in my eyes the great and good man ; may you long enjoy the love, veneration and 
esteem of these states whose liberties you have asserted by your virtues." 

Gen. Thomas Conway (to Washington). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 15 

JANUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1760 Washington, always bus}^, never overlooked laziness in others. He wrote 
in his diary : " Visited my plantation, severely reprimanded young Stephens for 
indolence, and his father for suffering it. Found the new negro Cupid ill with 
pleurisy at Dogue Run, and had him brought home in a cart for better care of 
him." Under no circumstances, in peace or war, were the needs of " my people, " 
as he often called the negroes, forgotten or neglected, 

1798 General Washington wrote to the commissioners of the " Federal Dis- 
trict," in regard to a National University, offering to subscribe liberally to the 
same. He said : '^ It has always been a source of serious reflection and sincere 
regret with me that the youth of the United States should be sent to foreign 
countries for the purpose of education. The Federal City, from its centrality 
and the advantages, which in other respects it must have over any other. place in 
the United States, ought to be preferred as a proper site for such an University." 



1/ 



" Washington would gladly in his own city have been the founder of the University of 
America. He had not himself to any extent, the advantages of a university education, but with 
the prophetic eye of the patriot and the statesman, he saw that here, on the banks of his own 
beautiful river, there was to be not only the seat of empire, the seat of a great Republican 
Empire, vastly grander indeed, than even he had ever dreamed; but also the centre of science, 
art and literature for America — the centre from which should radiate the light to illumine all 
the body politic, the heart from which should flow the blood through all the veins of our young 
Republic's intellectual life." Martin F. Morris, Justice (^Washington, D. C). 

JANUARY TWENTY-NINTH. 

1769 Colonel Washington wrote to his distant relative and friend William 
Ramsay, a merchant at Alexandria, Va. : ^' Having been informed of the 
studious habits of your son William, I will allow him twenty-five pounds an- 
nually to assist him in his education at Princeton College. No other return is 
expected or wished for this offer, than that you will accept it with the same 
freedom and good will with which it is made, and that you may not even con- 
sider it in the light of an obligation, or mention it as such ; for be assured that 
from me it will never be known." 

1778 For the use of the Committee of Congress, the Commander-in-chief 
compiled a most important report containing fifty folios. It was based upon 
the reports, suggestions, and recommendations of the leading Continental oflB- 
cers, added to which were his own valuable deductions, and giving a concise 
picture of the army at this period of the war. 

1791 Through the Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, Major L'Enfant 
was asked to make such drafts of the grounds in the survey for the Federal 
City, as would enable President Washington " to fix the spot " for the various 
public buildings and determine location of reservations. 



"His exterior disclosed as it were the history of his life, simplicity, grandeur, dignity, 
calmness, goodness, firmness. The attributes of his character were also stamped upon his 
features, and in all his person." Count de Segur (^France), 



16 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JANUARY THIRTIETH. 



1776 G-eneral "Washington offered to Lord Howe, Governor Skene in ex- 
change for Mr. James Lovell and family, who, on account of service rendered 
the American cause in the city of Boston, had been sent to Canada by the Eng- 
lish general. Washington insisted that their condition called for immediate 
consideration. To the president of Congress he wrote: "I wish it was in my 
power to furnish Congress with such a general as they desire to send to Canada. 
Since the unhappy reverse of our affairs in that quarter, Gen. Schuyler has in- 
formed me, that, though he had thoughts of declining the service before, he 
would now act." 

1781 The Commander-in-chief in a general order expressed his obUgation to 
Major-General Robert Howe for his prompt suppression of the mutiny in the 
New Jersey troops, which outburst occurring on the twentieth was as alarming 
in character as that which had occurred in the Pennsylvania hue. He in- 
structed General Howe to grant no terms while the revolted troops were with 
arms, and, if successful in compelling a surrender, to instantly execute a few of 
the most active leaders. 



"I see the rolling years renew his fame, "His triumph Isoasted when the weak would dare, 

I hear each varied language coin his name, His virtue cited when the good despair, 
His shade invoked where freedom's banner Till, from the Niger to the frozen sea, 

spreads. The joyous earth re-echoes — 'Man is free! ' " 

His deeds rehearsed where freedom's soldier 

treads, Sarah Josepha Hale {New Hampshire). 

JANUARY THIRTY-FIRST. 

1776 The following extract from General Washington's letter to his secre- 
tary Colonel Reed, written at Cambridge, shows that he at once appreciated the 
power of Paine's great paper urging an immediate severance from the mother- 
country : "A few more such flaming arguments as were exhibited at Falmouth, 
and Norfolk, added to the sound doctrine and unanswerable reasoning con- 
tained in the pamphlet ' Common Sense ' (Paine), will not leave numbers at a 
loss to decide upon the propriety of a separation." 

1778 The Commander-in-chief from Valley Forge expressed his personal 
obligation to Hon. Henry Laurens, president of Congress, for sending him (un- 
officially) information concerning the famous "Conrad Cabal." 

1786 From Mount Vernon, Washington urged James Rumsey to place his 
" Mechanical boat " (as he termed a model for a boat to be propelled by steam), 
before the pubhc. Rumsey kept a commodious boarding-house [Berkeley Springs, 
Va.], at the sign of the " Liberty Pole and Flag." 

1793 President Washington wrote a letter of sympathy to Marchioness de 
Lafayette upon the captivitv of her husband, and informed her that he had de- 
posited with Nicholas Van ^tophorst, Amsterdam, two hundred guineas, subject 
to her order. 



" Washington is the advocate of human nature, the light of both worlds." 

Mirabeau {France). 




FEBRUARY FIRST. 

1776 General Washington, at Cambridge, in referring to the short enlist- 
ment of troops, said : " The disadvantages are so great and apparent to me, that 
I am convinced, uncertain as the continuance of the war is, that Congress had 
better determine to give a bounty of twenty, thirty, or even forty dollars to 
every man who will enlist for the whole time, be it long or short." 

1779 At the request of his friend John Jay, the Commander-in-chief while 
in Philadelphia sat to Pierre Eugene du Simiti^re. It was a profile head in black 
lead, and only known through engravings by the artist, who wrote: ^' The Gen- 
eral condescended with great good nature to sit about three quarters of an hour 
for the above likeness, having but little time to spend, being the last day of his 
stay in town." 

1782 Washington's letter to Meshech Weare of New Hampshire, utilized as 
a circular letter to the governors, shows the General did not claim that Yorktown 
was an end of the contest. " The broken and perplexed state of the enemy's 
affairs, and the successes of the last campaign on our part, ought to be a power- 
ful incitement to vigorous preparations for the next. Unless we strenuously 
exert ourselves to profit by these successes, we shall not only lose all solid ad- 
vantages that might be derived from them, but we shall become contemptable 
in our eyes, in the eyes of our enemy, in the opinion of posterity, and even in 
the estimation of the whole world, which will consider us as a nation unworthy 
of prosperity, because we know not how to make a right use of it." 

1796 The President wrote to Oliver Wolcott at Hartford, regretting the 
recent death of Governor Huntington, adding, ''At the same time I can but feel 
consoled that the government of the State has fallen into such hands as yours." 



"He was by nature vehement, impulsive, lieaclstrong, impatient, passionate ; a man in whose 
blood the fiery courses might easily have run to riot, and strewed their way with havoc. How great 
the honor due to him who so held them under bit, rein and curb, that masterly self-control un- 
der intensest provocation became his foremost character, that disappointment, delay, defeat, 
even treachery, so seldom disturbed his equanimity, spread a cloud over his brow, or drew from 
him a resentful or bitter word. In mien, manner, speech, and intercourse, he was never beneath 
and never above his place. Dignity without haughtiness, firmness without obstinacy, conde- 
scension without stooping, gentleness without suppleness, affability without undue familiarity, 
were bleiided in him as in hardly any other historical personage." 

Andreto P. Peabody, LL. D. (Harvard University). 
2 17 



18 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

FEBRUARY SECOND. 

1778 General Washington, in his unfailing fatherly interest, wrote to his 
stepson, Major John Parke Custis : " I congratulate you upon the birth of an- 
other daughter, and Nelly's good health, and heartily wish the last may continue, 
and the other be a blessing to you." This child was Martha Parke Custis, who 
married Thomas Peter, Esq. They lived at Tudor Place, Georgetown, D. C, 
where their granddaughter, Mrs. Beverly Kennon, resides. 

1779 The Commander-in-chief, having asked permission of Congress to join 
his army at Middlebrook, left Philadelphia with his wife. They had been, for 
about six weeks, the guests of Hon. Henry Laurens; and this was his first inter- 
mission from active field-service since he assumed command. The '' Pennsylvania 
Packet" said : "He had been honored with every mark of esteem which his exalted 
qualities as a gentleman and a citizen entitled him to." 

1784 Washington wrote to Lafayette, in Paris: "At length I am become a 
private citizen on the banks of the Potomac. I have not only retired from all 
public employment, but I am retiring within myself. Envious of none, I am 
determined to be pleased with all ; and this, being the order of my march, I will 
move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with my fathers." 



"The character of Washington is a national possession. To its courage and perseverance 
we owe the successful issue of oiir war for independence ; to its integrity and judgment the per- 
manence of our constitutional experiment, and to its firmness and patriotism, our position as a 
nation. All Americans should study and venerate it." William S. Baker (Pennsylvania). 

FEBRUARY THIRD. 

1774 Colonel Washington and wife attended the marriage of her only son, 

John Parke Custis, to Eleanor Calvert, daughter of Benedict Calvert, Esq., of 

Mount Airy, Prince George, Md., and a descendant of Lord Baltimore. Wash- 

-j ington would have been gratified if he could have induced his stepson and ward 

' to travel in Europe before settling down to the life of a planter. 

1791 The President wrote, confidentially, to the Federal commissioners : " The 
Federal Territory being located, the competition for the location of the town now 
rests between the mouth of the Eastern Branch and the lands on the river below 
and adjacent to Georgetown. There are lands which stand yet, in the way of the 
latter location, and which, if they could be obtained for the purpose of the town, 
would remove a considerable obstacle to it, and go near indeed to decide what 
has been so long on the balance with me." 

1793 The following extract from a letter to his manager illustrates the fact 
that under no circumstances did Washington forget or neglect even his lesser 
charities : " Sarah Flatfoot (you call her Lightfoot) has been accustomed to re- 
ceive a pair of shoes, stockings, a country cloth petticoat, and an oznabrig shift, 
all ready made, annually, and it is not meant to discontinue them." 



" Deeds of serenity were his sad tribute to justice, deeds of humanity the native suggestions 
of his heart. His deeds and his virtues are his high eulogium. His deeds most familiar to your 
his virtues most dear to your affections." John Mitchell Mason, D. D. {New York). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 19 

FEBRUARY FOURTH. 

1756 Colonel Washington, accompanied by his aide Captain Mercer and two 
servants, set out on horseback from Winchester, Va., on his mission to Governor 
Shirley of Massachusetts. " He wore a uniform of blue and buff, with a white 
cloak lined with scarlet, and a short dress sword, with sword knot of gold and 
red. His servant's livery was scarlet and white, with hat laced with silver. 
The horse trappings were of London make, with the Washington arms engraved 
upon the housings." 

1780 General Washington wi'ote from Morristown to the Marquis de la 
Luzerne: ''I thank your Excellency for the agreeable intelligence you give me 
of his most christian Majesty's intentions to send over succor of arms and 
ammunition. It is a new and valuable proof of his friendship, and will be of 
essential utility." 

1790 President Washington in the Executive Mansion, No. 3 Cherry Street, 
New York, entertained at dinner the Vice-President, the Chief Justice and Jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court, the cabinet, several senators, and other officials. 



' ' I cannot deny myself the pleasure of informing you of the sentiments with which the reports 
of the French officers, on their return to Versailles, inspired the court and nation towards your 
excellency. Their testimony can add nothing to the universal opinion respecting the great services 
which you have rendered to your country; but to the esteem and admiration of the French, will 
henceforth be added a sentiment of affection and attachment which is a just return for the 
attention our officers have received from you, and for the progress they have made in their pro- 
fession by serving under your orders." Luzerne {France), 1782. 

FEBRUARY FIFTH. 

1776 " The Colonels of the Old Establishment, will to day and tomorrow re- 
ceive warrants for their pay abstracts for the months of November and Decem- 
ber. Hereafter even for officers, there will be no allowance made for neglect or 
mistakes." Washington's Orderly Booh {Cambridge). 

1779 General and Mrs. Washington reached headquarters, Middlebrook. 
Commenting upon his visit, the General said : '^ While in Philadelphia what 
between Congress, and a special committee of that body, I was furnished with 
ample employment. I had few moments of relaxation." 

1785 To Samuel Vaughn, an English merchant who had a house in Phila- 
delphia, Washington wrote, thanking him for the handsome present of a marble 
mantelpiece, now in the Banquet Hall, Mount Vernon, saying, " I fear it is too 
elegant and costl}^ for my room, and republican style of living." This mantel 
is of white marble supported by Siena columns. On the tablets in high relief 
are well-executed scenes in the life of the husbandman. 



"The character of "Washington has, after all, been undervalued, because not valued cor- 
rectly. He was a proper puritan hero. It is his exactness and persistency which attract me. 
A few simple deeds and a dignified silence for a back-ground is all. He never fluctuated, nor 
lingered, nor stooped nor wavered, but was nobly silent and assured. His behavior in the field 
and in council, and his dignified and contented withdrawal to private life were great. He could 
advance and he could retreat." Henry David Thoreau (Massachusetts). 



20 GEOKGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



FEBRUARY SIXTH. 



1783 In celebration of the fifth anniversary of the French alliance, the 
Commauder-in-chief reviewed the army, and after the feu de joie received, as an- 
nounced, " Not only all the officers of the cantonment, but ail the gentlemen of 
the army, and other gentlemen and ladies, who can attend with convenience at 
the New Building ; where a cold collation will be provided." In a letter of this 
date Washington congratulated General Greene on his great southern success, 
saying, "■ If historiographers should be hardy enough to fill the page of History 
with the advantages, that have been gained with unequal numbers, (on the part 
of America) in the course of this contest, and attempt to relate the distressing 
circumstances under which they have been obtained, it is more than probable 
that Posterity will bestow on their labors the epithet and marks of Fiction." 

1786 At Mount Vernon Washington said : " Mr. Lear, or any other man who 
may come into my family in the blended characters of preceptor to the children, 
and as a clerk or private secretary to me, will sit at my table, will live as I live, 
will mix with the company who resort to the house, will be treated in every re- 
spect with civility and proper attention." 

1788 The State of Massachusetts ratified the Federal Constitution. 



"Men of all descriptions and everywhere take pride in his name. It is the watchword of 
liberty in every land : it is heard with mingled respect and apprehension in the palaces of kings, 
with reverence in the hut of the savage." John Carroll Brent {Maryland). 

FEBRUARY SEVENTH. 

1776 The following from the Orderly Book, Cambridge, establishes the date 
of the first appointment of an army chaplain : " The Continental Congress having 
been pleased to order and direct that there shall be one Chaplain to two Regi- 
ments, and that the pay of each Chaplain shall be Thirty three dollars & one 
third pr Kalendar month. The Rev'd Abiel Leonard is appointed Chaplain to 
the Regiment of Artillery under the command of Col. Knox, and to the 20th, 
Regiment commanded by Lt Col Durkee." 

1781 Congress resolved, '' That there be a Superintendent of Finance, a Sec- 
retary of War, and a Secretary of Marine," which greatly relieved Washington. 

1788 Acknowledging an introduction from Marquis de la Luzerne of his 
successor Count de Moustier. Washington said : '' It will not be forgotten, that 
you were a witness to the dangers, the sufferings, the exei'tions, and the suc- 
cesses of the United States, from the most perilous crisis to the hour of triumph. 
The influence of your agency on the cabinet to produce a cooperation, and the 
prowess of your countrymen cooperating with ours in the field to secure the lib- 
erties of America, have made such an indelible impression on the public mind 
as will never be effaced." 



"Ille operum eustos; ilium admirantur et omnes 
Circumstant fremitu dense." 

" These verses are applicable to him in every sense : he has been the founder of the repub- 
lic, and only he can preserve it under the new form that it has been given." 

Conite de Moustier {France)^ 1789. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 21 



FEBRUARY EIGHTH. 



1756 Colonel Washington en route for Boston spent a day and night at 
Philadelphia. His sundry expenses while there were two pounds and three 
shillings. It was his first visit to this city, where in after years he was destined 
to bear so conspicuous a part in civil and military affairs. Here, as elsewhere 
on his journey, he was received with distinguished consideration ; for, although 
only twenty-four years of age, his name was familiar throughout the colonies. 

1782 From his headquarters, the elegant Chew House, South Third Street, 
Philadelphia, the Commander-in-chief with the approval of Congress issued the 
following wise and conciliatory proclamation : " Free pardon to all deserters, as 
well as those who may have joined the enemy, as others, who shall deliver them- 
selves up to any Continental officer on or before the first day of June next." 

1785 Washington forwarded papers to Richard Henry Lee, president of 
Congress, from Lady Huntington, giving an outline of her project to civilize and 
Christianize the Indians. He said: "Her Ladyship has spoken so feelingly and 
sensibly on the religious and benevolent purposes of the plan, that no language 
of which I am possessed can add aught to enforce her observations." 



" More wonderful than generalship or statecraft, is the skill with which Washington was 
able to guide his course amid the turbulent passions and fierce strife of parties, so as to keep 
his own character untainted, his name unsullied ; winning and holding the confidence of his 
contemporaries and the reverence of posterity." Tliomas E. Piaster (Kentucky). 

FEBRXTARY NINTH. 

1776 At Cambridge, General Washington ordered that colonels, under no 
pretext, should license more than one sutler within the limits of the camp : '' The 
Q. M. G. has his Excellency's authority to punish severely any one who is 
licensed or licenses contrary to the above law." To Congress he wrote : " I tried 
every method I could think of to procure arms for the men. They are really 
not to be had in these governments belonging to the Republic, and if some 
method is not fallen upon in the Southern governments to supply us we shall 
be in a distressed situation for want of them." 

1782 Washington regretted "the unavoidable delay in performing a most 
agreeable piece of duty, owing to the difficulty of getting proper engraving exe- 
cuted," which duty is explained in this resolution. 

"Congress resolved, that two pieces of the field ordnance taken from the British Army 
under the capitulation of York be presented by the Commander-in-chief of the American Army 
to Count de Rochambeau; and that there be engraved thereon a short memorandum, that Con- 
gress were induced to present them from considerations of the illustrious part he bore in effect- 
ing the suiTender." 



"Washington est mort. Ce grand homme s'est battu contr^ la tyrannic : il a consolid^ la 
liberte de sa patrie. Sa m^moire sera toujours chere au peuple fran^ais, comme a tous les 
hommes libres des deux mondes, et specialement aux soldats fran^ais qui, comme lui et les sol- 
dats Americains se battent pour l'egalit6 et la libert6. En consequence, le premier consul or- 
donne que pendant dix jours des crepes noirs seront suspendus a tous les drapeaux et guidons 
de la republique." Napoleon {Order to the Army, Champs de Mars, 1800). 



22 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



FEBRUARY TENTH. 

1778 General Washington made a most stirrina: appeal to Congress for the 
relief of his distressed army, saying that many of his brave soldiers might be 
tracked by '' the blood from their uncovered feet." He agreed that his two 
commissioners would meet two from Lord Howe at the " King of Prussia's 
Tavern," Germantown, to arrange for exchange of prisoners. Mrs. Washington 
arrived at Valley Forge this day, and wrote to Mrs. Greene : " The General's 
apartments are very small ; he has had a log cabin built to dine in, which makes 
our quarters more tolerable than they were at first." 

1786 Washington, at this period undisturbed in his favorite pursuit of 
agriculture and the improvement of his beloved Mount Vernon, wrote in his 
diary : " Making up the banks round ye Serpentine walks to the front gate." 
Four days previous he noted " Planting pines in the wilderness on the left of 
the lawn and spading the ground there." In referring to a shrub he had 
planted, he said : " Its light and airy foliage, crimson and variegated flowers, 
present a gay and mirthful appearance ; continually whilst in bloom visited by 
the brilliant, thundering Humming-bird." 



"Most nations have been favored with some prophetic deliverer; the Israelites had their 
Moses; Rome had her Camillas, Greece her Leonidas, Sweden her Gustavus, England her 
Hampdens, her Russells, and her Sydneys; but these illustrious heroes, though successful in 
preserving and defending, did not, like Washington, form or establish empires which will be 
the refuge or asylum of liberty, banished from Europe by luxury and exemption." 

John Bell (Maryland). 

FEBRUARY ELEVENTH. 

1732 " George Washington, son to Augustine Washington, and Mary, his 
o wife, was born ye 11th day of February, 1731-2, about ten in the morning, and 
' was baptized ye 3d of April following. Mr. Beverly Whiting and Captain 
Christopher Brooke, godfathers, and Mrs. Mildred Gregory, godmother." This 
record was written by George Washington in his mother's Bible before the 
adoption of the Gregorian Calendar, which made February 22d his birthday ac- 
cording to the ''new style." 

1769 "Went ducking till dinner. Mr. Piper dined here and Betsey Dan- 
dridge came home in the evening." Washington's Diary. 

1779 General Washington's birthday was first observed at Winchester, 
Va., and four years later publicly celebrated at a dinner given by officers of the 
Maryland Line, at Cambridge, Dorchester County, Md. " The Birth Day Ball " 
at Alexandria was inaugurated near this time, and during the century has rarely 
been omitted. 



" The silver trump of fame ; 
His glory shall proclaim ; 
Till time is done ; 
Genius with taste refined. 
Courage with coolness joined, 
'Bove all an honest mind, 
Has Washington. 



"Fill the glass to the brink, 
Washington's health we will drink — 
'Tis his birthday. 
Glorious deeds he has done. 
By him our cause is won, 
Long live Gi-eat Washington, 
Huzza, Huzza." 

Song, Feb. 11, 1784. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 23 



FEBRUARY TWELFTH. 



1768 "Went fox-hunting with Colonel Fairfax, Mr. McCarty, Mr. Chiches- 
ter, Captains Posey and Manley, who dined here with Mrs. Fau-fax and Miss 
Nichols. Catched two foxes." WasMnytoirC s Diary. 

1781 At Newport (Monday), Count Rochambeau celebrated the birthday of 
the Commander-in-chief with a fete ; and there was a suspension of labor by his 
army. The gallant Frenchman wrote : " We will celebrate it with the sole regret 
that your Excellency be not a witness of the effusion and gladness of our hearts." 
From the beginning Washington inspired the officers of the allied army with 
sentiments not only of esteem, but affection. 

1788 From camp, from legislative hall, from executive duty, Washington's 
heart turned to the beautiful fields of Mount Vernon, and he was never so happy 
as when on them. To Alexander Spottswood, Esq., he said : " The life of a hus- 
bandman of all others is the most delectable. It is honorable, it is amusing, and 
with judicious management it is profitable. To see plants rise from the earth 
and flourish by the superior skill and bounty of the laborer fills the contempla- 
tive mind with ideas which are more easy to be conceived than expressed." 



" That most ancient and honorable employment, the cultivation of the earth, from which 
little minds, intoxicated with pride, turn away with scorn, was his delightful occupation. ... It 
was his industry and activity, at home, which qualified him for the toils of the campaign and 
the dangers of the battlefield, as well as the more arduous labors of the cabinet." 

Rev. Robert Wilson {Virginia), 1800. 

FEBRUARY THIRTEENTH. 

1784 General Washington, from Mount Vernon, in an order to his mer- 
chant, Robert Carey, London, said : " Mrs. Washington would take it as a favor 
if you will direct Mrs. Shelby to send her a fashionable summer cloak and hat, a 
black silk apron, one piece of penny and one of two-penny ribbon (white), and a 
pair of French bead ear-rings and necklace. And I should be obliged to you for 
sending me a dozen and a half of water plates. (Pewter, with my crest en- 
graved.)" 

1786 At Mount Vernon, Washington wrote suggestions to Jefferson, in 
Paris, for connecting by canal the head waters of- the Ohio River and the Chesa- 
peake Bay; also the advisability of establishing cotton manufactories, and giv- 
ing the assurance that very good cotton grew in Georgia. Referring to the manu- 
facture of glass, he asked him to examine European factories and send all 
important data. As early as 1774 Washington became interested in the manu- 
facture of glass, and doiibtless would have established that industry but for the 
intervention of the War of Independence. 



"Washington is a great work of the Almighty Artist, which none can study without receiv- 
ing purer ideas and more lofty conceptions of the grace and beauty of the human character. 
He is already become the saint of liberty, which has gathered new honors by being associated 
with his name ; and when men aspire to free nations, they must take him for their model. . . . 
The whole world was the theatre of his actions, and all mankind are destined to partake sooner 
or later in their results. He is a hero of a new species, he had no model ; will he have any 
imitators ? " James Kirke Paulding {New York). 



24 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

FEBRUARY FOURTEENTH. 

1777 The Commander-in-chief, with a hunter's sympathy, replied to his old 
friend, the brilliant cavalry officer and enthusiastic lover of the chase, Henry 
Lee : '' Your dogs are in Virginia. This circumstance I regret, as you will be 
deprived of the satisfaction and amusements you hoped to derive, from their 
friendly and companionable dispositions." 

1780 The ''hutting" was announced completed at Morristown and the army 
in better condition, though in consequence of exposure the men were suffering 
much from lung-fever. Washington was passing through one of the most inac- 
tive and harassing periods of the struggle, yet daily compelled to witness the 
discomfort and actual needs of his troops, while totally unable to relieve them. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief, in a general order from New Windsor, " with 
great satisfaction" congratulated the arm}^ upon important successes lately 
obtained in South Carolina; particularly praising the gallantry of General 
Daniel Morgan, Virginia ; Colonel John Eager Howard, Maryland ; and Colonel 
William Washington, South Carolina. In recognition of the achievements of 
these brilliant officers, Congress presented each with a gold medal. 



"The voice of praise could not betray him into rashness, nor the malignant tongiies of 
slander warp him from his duty; with the same steady mind he advanced; with the same steady 
mind he retired ; with the same firm soul he fought the foe, with the same firm soul he declined 
the combat ; when victory held out to him her bleeding hand, he clasped it with serenity; thank- 
ing God." :__. Frederick Frelinghuy^n, Major-General {New Jersey), 1800. 

FEBRUARY FIFTEENTH. 

1760 "Went to a ball in Alexandria where Musick and dancing was the 
chief Entertainment, Tea and Coffee which the drinkers of could not distinguish 
from hot sweetened water. Be it remembered that pocket-handkerchiefs served 
the purposes of table cloths & Napkins, and no apology for either. I shall there- 
fore distinguish this ball by the stile and title of ' The Bread and Butter Ball.' " 
Washington's Diary. 

1780 At Morristown, General Washington expressed to Joseph Reed his 
gratification at having been elected a member of the ''American Philosophical 
Society." He said : " I feel myself particularly honored by this relation to a 
society, whose successful efforts for promoting useful knowledge have already 
justly acquired for them the highest reputation in the literary world." 

1787 Washington urged his mother to rent her land and live with one of her 
children, but knowing her character, that she would never be happy as an in- 
mate of any household except upon an independent basis, he suggested " that a 
man, a maid, the phaeton, and two horses are all you would want. For the sup- 
port of these would not require ^ of your income." He concluded with candor : 
" My house is at your service ; but I am sure it would never answer your purpose, 
for in truth it may be compared to a well resorted tavern." 



"I am not surprised at what George has done, for he was always a good boy." 

Mary Washington (1789). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DxVY BY DAY. 25 

FEBRUARY SIXTEENTH. 

1776 In council of war, the Commander-in-chief proposed an attack on Boston 
over the ice from Cambridge and Roxbury, but was overruled by his officers, 
who were opposed to an aggressive movement at that time because the army 
was deficient in arms and powder. 

1778 General Washington wi'ote to Governor Clinton from Valley Forge, 
saying, " Naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incom- 
parable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been ere this 
excited by their suffering to a general mutiny and dispersion." A few days 
later he informed Congress of the arrival of Baron Steuben, and said : ^' He ap- 
pears to be much of a gentleman, and as far as I have had an opportunity of 
judging, a man of military knowledge and acquainted with the world." 

1783 Divine service was held at New Windsor in the "New Building," which 
had just been completed, also called "The Temple" and "The Public Building." 
" It had a cupola, a flagstaff, and an orchestra," and could accommodate a brigade 
of troops. Washington ordered it should be occupied by the different brigades 
each succeeding Lord's Day — chaplains and regiments in rotation. 



"He has ever shown himself superior to fortune, and in the most trying adversity has dis- 
covered until then unknown resoui-ces, and, as if his abilities only increased and dilated at the 
prospect of difficulty, he is never better supplied than when he seems destitute of everything ; 
nor have his armies ever been so fatal to his enemies as at the very instant when they have 
thought they have crushed him forever." Abbe Claude C. Robin (France). 

FEBRUARY SEVENTEENTH. 

1778 The " camp famine " at Valley Forge was the subject of every pen, and 
no one would have been surprised if the army had dissolved. Lafayette said : 
" The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything : they had neither coats, 
hats, shirts, nor shoes ; their feet and legs froze till they were black, and it was 
often necessary to amputate them." They were in no condition to fight, or the 
Commander-in-chief would have made a feint on the enemy at Philadelphia in 
obedience to the expressed desire of Congress. He appealed for cattle to New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, saying, " a bountiful 
price will be given, and the proprietors may assure themselves that they will 
render a most essential service to the cause of their country." 

1781 Washington congratulated Congress upon the victory of General Mor- 
gan at Cowpens, S. C, over Colonel Tarleton and the flower of the British army. 
He said: "It reflects the highest honor upon our arms, and I hope it will at least 
be attended with this advantage: that it will check the offensive operations of 
the enemy until General Greene shall have collected a much more respectable 
force than he had under his command by the last accounts from him." 



" Modest in the midst of pride, wise in the midst of folly, calm in the midst of passion, 
cheerful in the midst of gloom, steadfast among the wavering, hopeful among the despondent, 
bold among the timid, prudent among the rash, generous among the selfish, true among the 
faithless, greatest among good men, and best among the great, such was George Washington at 
Valley Forge." Henry Armitt Brown {Pennsylvania), 1878. 



26 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

FEBRUARY EIGHTEENTH. 

1779 The Commander-in-chief at Pluckamin, N. J., attended the celebration 
of the first anniversary of the French alliance, given by General Knox and the 
ofiicers. This should have occurred on the 6th, the proper date, but was de- 
ferred, owing to the absence of Washington. The General opened the ball with 
Mrs. Knox. A salute of sixteen guns was fired in compliment to Louis XVI. 

1782 General Washington urged upon the United Colonies that as the 
speech of King George at the opeuing of Parliament did not give promise of 
peace, the best thing was to take vigorous steps for the coming campaign, and 
promptly furnish men and supplies. 

1792 President Washington approved an act admitting Vermont into the 
Federal Union — the first star added to the original thirteen. 

1795 In the President's instructions to his nephew Robert Lewis, he said : 
'* Mrs. Haney should endeavor to do what she can for herself, that is a duty 
encumbent on every one; but you must not let her suffer, as she has thrown 
herself upon me ; your advances on this account will be allowed always, at 
settlement; and I agree readily to furnish her with provisions, and give her 
daughter in my name a handsome but not costly gown." 



"lu every situation, under everj' circumstance, in every view of bis glorious career, we 
may trace the sublime ; I might say divine energy of that soul with which he was endowed by 
Omnipotence for the vindication of his eountrie's rights." Samuel Knox {Maryland), 1800. 

FEBRUARY NINETEENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief decided he was now supplied with powder 
sufficient to justify his attack on Boston. To Governor Trumbull he expressed 
his opinion of the bad policy of the towns keeping powder stored for their de- 
fense, rather than supplying the needs of the army. 

1777 General Washington, from Morristown, urged Congress to provide 
promptly for an increase of the army. He stated that every officer who could 
be spared from the camp had been ordered to the several colonies to actively 
engage in recruiting service, and to gather in the men who remained at home 
upon temporary hospital discharge. After repeated and pressing requests from 
the Commander-in-chief for an increase of general officers. Congress this day 
appointed five major-generals — Stirling, Mifflin, St. Clair, Stephen^, and Lincoln. 

1795 This day was observed as a national thanksgiving in pursuance of 
the President's Proclamation, in which he said : " When we review the calami- 
ties which afflict so many other nations, the present condition of the United 
States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction." 



" The character of "Washington has ascended above the ordinary langiiage of eulogy. . . . 
He dignified office, he elevated the highest rank — military or civil — he ever held. No rank, mili- 
tary or civil, ever raised him, or could come up to that majesty of character which the God of 
his nature had implanted in him. That was our Washington." John J. Crittenden {Kentucky). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 27 

FEBRUARY TWENTIETH. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief selected from several posts twelve hundred 
men, and gave the commaDd to General Lafayette, with orders to march to 
Virginia, expecting he would be supported in the Chesapeake Bay by a detach- 
ment from the French fleet. One of the chief objects of this expedition was 
the capture of Benedict Arnold, who had been made brigadier-general in the 
British service, and was devastating and outraging that colony. 

1788 Washington responded to President Samuel Griffin: "I have been 
duly honored and greatly affected with the receipt of the resolution of the 
visitors and Governors of William and Mary College, appointing me Chancellor 
of the same, and have to thank you for your polite attention in the transmis- 
sion." Two months later, after inquiring into the duties of the office, he wrote : 
"Influenced by a heartfelt desire to promote the cause of science in general, 
and the prosperity of the college of William and Mary in particular, I accept 
the office of Chancellor." In this office he succeeded Robert Lowth, D. D., 
Bishop of London. 

1792 President Washington approved an act fixing rates of postage, and 
conferring the franking privilege on members of Congress and heads of 
departments. 



"Where Washington hath left 
His awful memory 
A light for after times." Robert Sotithey {England). 

FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST. 

1777 To General Parsons, who was recruiting in Connecticut, the Comman- 
der-in-chief gave orders in regard to the Tories : " They have permission to 
carry in with them their necessary wearing apparel, but nothing that can pos- 
sibly be useful to the enemy. Their estates must be secured, till the civil 
power determine what shall be done." 

1782 Congress invested Washington with power to negotiate an exchange 
of prisoners on the broadest scale, but with a " secret instruction " that nothing 
contained therein "should be construed to authorize the exchange of Lord 
Cornwallis." He replied to Congress : " I find myself so exceedingly embar- 
rassed — Your prohibiting the exchange of Lord CornwaUis by composition, 
which is the only mode he can be exchanged, except for civil characters, we 
having no military grade answerable to his." 

1796 President Washington wrote to Lord Buchan in regard to securing 
thrifty Scotchmen for Mount Vernon, objecting to the "slovenly farmers" 
which he had to employ a&,tenants. 



"The stately column that stretches heavenward from the plain whereon we stand bears 
witness to all who behold it, that the covenant which our fathers made, their children have 
fulfilled. In the completion of this great work of patriotic endeavor there is abundant cause 
for national rejoicing, for while this structure shall endure it shall be to all mankind a stead- 
fast token of the affectionate and reverent regard in which this people continue to hold the 
memory of Washington. Well may he ever keep the foremost place in the hearts of his 
countrymen." Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States. 

Presenting the Washington National Monument to the people, Feb. 21, 1885. 



28 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

FEBRUAEY TWENTY-SECOND. 

1732 George "Washington was born at "Wakefield, "Westmoreland County, 
Virginia (New Style)."' At the seat of Government, and in every State in the 
Union (with the exception of six), this natal day is a legal holiday, and in every 
capital of the world is coming to be more and more honored. 

1790 " The order of the Society of the Cincinnati " celebrated at Philadel- 
phia the birthday of Washington, Many distinguished members, led by Chief 
Justice Thomas McKean of Delaware, marched in procession to the Executive 
Mansion, to pay their respects to their President General. 

1796 A motion was made in Congress to adjourn in honor of Washington's 
Birthday, but lost by a few disaffected members " Making a plea of bad prece- 
dent." This becoming known, the shouting of the crowd without prevented the 
speakers being heard, and forced an adjournment. 

1799 Washington's adopted daughter, and his wife's granddaughter, Eleanor 
Parke Custis, was married at Mount Vernon to Major Lawrence Lewis, son of 
Washington's only sister and Colonel Fielding Lewis. 

1800 The obsequies of George Washington were officially celebrated at the 
Capital of the United States, and observed in every city of the nation. Eulogies 
were pronounced upon him throughout the civilized world. 



" Honored and loved — the patriot — and the sage 
Born for thine own and every coming age. 
Thy country's champion — Freedom's chosen son 
We hail thy birthday — glorious Washington." 

S. F. Smith, D. D. {Author of " My Country, 'Tis of Thee"). 

FEBRUARY TWENTY-THIRD. 

1782 Congress resolved "That the Commander-in-chief be authorized to 
agree to the exchange of Earl Cornwallis by composition ; provided that the 
Hon. Henry Laurens be liberated, and proper assurance obtained that all ac- 
counts for the support of the convention of prisoners, and all other prisoners of 
war shall be speedily settled and discharged." 

1790 The Tammany Society, or The Columbian Order (Monday), '' Met and 
resolved that for ever after, this society will commemorate the birthday of the 
illustrious Washington " — a patriotic observance that is never neglected. 

1799 General and Mrs. Washington sent out invitations to a dinner-party, 
to be given at Mount Vernon the following Tuesday, in compliment to "the 
couple just married," Major and Mrs. Lawrence Lewis. The bride was one of 
the most attractive of the many rare and beautiful women of the dawn of the 
Republic. A pen-picture of Nellie Custis was given by Latrobe, just arrived 
from the capitals of Europe, who said : " She has more perfection of form, of 
expression, of color, of softness, and of firmness of mind than I have ever seen 
before." 



" Yet has no month a prouder day, "For this chill season now again 

Not even when the summer hroods Brings in its annual rounds the morn 

O'er meadows in their fresh array, When greatest of the sons of men, 

Or Autumn tints the glowing woods. Our glorious Washington was born." 

William Cullen Bryant {New York). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 29 

FEBRUARY TWENTY-FOURTH. 

1756 Colonel Washington remained several days in New York, the guest of 
Beverly Robinson, Esq., at whose house he met, and fell in love with, Mary 
Phillips (afterward Mrs. Roger Morris). It was curious enough that through 
the fortunes of war their mansion on the Hudson became the headquarters of 
the Commander-in-chief. 

1781 General Washington from headquarters, New Windsor, wrote Count 
de Rochambeau: ''The flattering distinction paid to the anniversary of my 
birthday is an honor for which I dare not attempt to express my gratitude ; I 
confide in youi* Excellency's sensibility to interpret my feelings for this, and for 
the obliging manner in which you are pleased to announce it." 

1794 President Washington sent to Rev. James Muir his annual subscrip- 
tion of fifty pounds, to assist in the education of the poor children of Alexan- 
dria, and asked that instructor if he could give any report of those who had 
been benefited by this subscription; for, while his life was an assurance of his 
generosity, he never gave unwisely. By his will he left the sum of five thou- 
sand dollars for this charity, '' for the sons of widows." 



"Washington, although born with every superior quality, adds to them an imposing modesty 
which will always cause him to be admired by those who have the good fortune to see him. As 
for esteem he has already drawn to himself that of all Europe . . . Washington — the Atlas of 
your country." Chevalier de Silly (France). 

FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1779 Dr. James Thacher, who has left several pen-portraits of Washington 
in his admirable " Military Journal," dined with him at headquarters, Middle- 
brook. The doctor said: ''He is feared even when silent, and beloved even when 
we are unconscious of the motive. In conversation his Excellency's expressive 
countenance is peculiarly interesting and pleasing ; a placid smile is frequently 
observed on his lips, but a loud laugh, it is said, seldom if ever escapes him. 
He is polite and attentive to each individual at table and retires after the com- 
pliment of a few glasses. Mrs. Washington combines in an uncommon degree, 
great dignity of manner with the most pleasing affability, but possesses no strik- 
ing marks of beauty." 

1790 The President, having moved to his "new habitation" on Broadway, 
was occupied in the arrangement of the establishment. He thus notes, however, 
the first census law : " In the afternoon a Committee of Congress presented an 
act for enumerating the inhabitants of the United States." 

1795 Joseph Habersham, of Georgia, nominated by President Washington, 
was confirmed as Postmaster- General to succeed Timothy Pickering, appointed 
Secretary of War. This able officer remained in office under three Presidents. 



" The figure of Washington was the presentment of a king ; a king who by the irony of fate 
was just then waging war against all king-ship ; a ruler of men who just then was fighting for 
the rights of these men to govern themselves ; but whom by his own right he dominated." 

Francis Bret Harte {New York). 



7 



30 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

FEBRUARY TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1758 Colonel Washington reached "Williamsburg, having been detained three 
weeks at his mother's home by pulmonary fever. The purpose of this journey 
was to demand settlement of military accounts. During his stay at the Capital 
the House of Burgesses increased the militia, giving bounty for recruits. It was 
en route from Fredericksburg, at the hospitable mansion of Colonel Chamberlain, 
that the young officer met and was captured by the charming widow, Mrs. Mar- 
tha Dandridge Custis. 

1776 In council of war at Cambridge, it was decided to march upon the 
enemy, on the anniversary of the Boston massacre. "Washington this day issued 
the following order: "All officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers are 
positively forbid playing at cards and other games of chance. In this time 
of public distress men may find enough to do in the service of their God and 
their country without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality." 

1784 To his nephew Fielding Lewis, "Washington wrote: "You very much 
mistake my circumstances when you suppose me in a condition to advance 
money. I made no money from my Estate during the nine years I was absent 
from it, and brought none home with me. Those who owed me took advantage 
of the depreciation and paid me off with six pence on the pound." 



"Washington was parsimonious of the blood of his countrymen, and stood forth the pure 
and virtuous champion of their rights, forming for them (not for himself) a mighty empire." 

Ellcanah Watson (Massachusetts). 

FEBRUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1747 The earliest plat of a survey by Washington is a crude sketch (still in 
existence), and is inscribed by him : "A plan of Major Lawrence Washington's 
Turnip Field, as surveyed by me, this twenty-seventh Day of February, 1747/8." 

1785 General Washington wrote to Governor Patrick Henry declining the 
150 shares of stock voted him by the Assembly, saying, " I shall ever consider 
this act as an unequivocal and substantial testimony of the approving voice of 
my country for the part I have acted on the American Theatre, and shall feast 
upon the recollection of it as often as it occurs to me ; but that is all I can, or 
mean to do. It was my first declaration in Congress after accepting my military 
appointment, that I would not receive anything for such services as I might be 
able to render the cause in which I had embarked." 

1791 To Major L'Enfant the Secretary of State wrote that the President, 
"having received necessary evidence" of his refusal to accept or obey orders 
issued b}'' the commissioners of the Federal Territory, had instructed him to 
say, ''your services are at an end." 



" His ability, his wisdom, his piety, his indomitable energy and his unselfish patriotism cer- 
tainly can never be exceeded. We have greatly loved Lincoln, heartily trusted Grant, but 
surely our souls cleave in reverent affection above all, to Washington." 

Oliver Otis Howard ( U. S. Army). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 31 

FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1776 General Washington wrote a charming note of thanks to " Miss Phillis 
Wheatley," " daughter of the murky Senegal/' acknowledging a poem she had 
written him, saying, "If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near head- 
quarters I shall be happy to see a person so favored by the Muses, and to whom 
nature has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations." In 1761 Phillis 
was brought a child from Africa, and bought in the slave-market of Boston by 
Mr. John Wheatley, whose wife with every care developed her talents. 

1779 General Knox wrote his brother a description of the ball he gave at 
Pluckamin, to celebrate the alliance between France and America : " We had 
about seventy ladies, all of the first ton in the state, and between three and four 
hundred gentlemen. The Commander-in-chief mixed with unreserved pleasure 
with the revellers who danced aU night." 

1797 President Washington vetoed an act to ascertain and fix the military 
establishment of the United States ; this was his second and his last veto. Con- 
gress enacted new measures in accord with his views in both vetoes. 



" Fixed are the eyes of nations on the scales, "Lament thy thirst of boundless power too late. 
For in their hopes Columbia's arm prevails, Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side. 
Anon Britannia droops the pensive head Thy ev'ry action let the goddess guide, 

While roimd increase the rising hills of dead. A crown, a mansion and a throne that shine. 
Ah! cruel blindness to Columbia's state With gold unfading, Washington! be thine." 

Phillis WJieatley (1776). 

FEBRUARY TWENTY-NINTH. 

1752 Major George Washington paid his respects to the Governor after 
returning from the Barbados. He wrote to his brother Lawrence: "Waited 
upon Governor Dinwiddle and was received Graciously. He inquired kindly 
after the health of myself, and brother, and invited me to stay and dine." 

1 780 General Greene wrote from Morristown : '* We have opened an as- 
sembly at camp. From this apparent ease, I suppose it is thought we must be 
in happy circumstances. I wish it were so, but alas it is not. Our provisions 
are in a manner gone. We have not a ton of hay at command, nor magazine 
to draw from. Money is extremely scarce, and worth little when we get it. We 
have been so poor in camp for a fortnight, that we could not forward the 
public dispatches, for want of cash to support the expresses." This dancing- 
assembly was supported by thirty-five officers subscribing eleven dollars each, 
Washington heading the list. It is evident they not only bravely endured their 
privations, but tried to cheer each other. 

1794 President and Mrs. Washington, at the Executive Mansion, Phila- 
delphia, gave a dinner at four o'clock to a party of distinguished guests, among 
whom were the Hon. John Langdon and his accomplished wife. 



"His lofty character heightened the value of every service he rendered, dignified every 
honor he wore, and glorifies the reverence the world bestows his memory." John G. Nicolay. 




HARPSICHORD AT MOUNT VERNON. 




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MARCH FIRST. 

1674 Mount Vernon was embraced in the original patent of 2,500 acres 
granted to Lieutenant-Colonel John Washington, and descended intact, until 
General George Washington, by will, divided it among his heirs. In 1856, 200 
acres, on the river and immediately surrounding the Mansion House, was bought 
by the country from John Augustine Washington, the member of the family then 
in possession, through the '^ Ladies' Mount Vernon Association of the Union." 
The people were first aroused to this act of filial piety by the untiring efforts and 
patriotic letters of Anna Parmela Cunningham of South Carolina, first Regent 
of the association, through her pen, under the nom de plume of " Southern Ma- 
tron." She was earnestly and practically aided by the eloquent addresses of Hon. 
Edward Everett of Massachusetts. This association of devoted representative 
women, chosen from the different States, sustain and guard with reverential care 
the home and tomb of Washington. 

1774 Colonel and Mrs. Washington received Mr. and Mrs. John Parke Cus- 
tis and their bridal train at Mount Vernon. ^' The Infair,'' or the festivity upon 
bringing home the bride, was handsomely observed, and attended by a large 
number of the neighboring gentry. 

1777 At Morristown the following official announcement was made: "Alex- 
ander Hamilton, Esq. is appointed Aide de camp to the Commander in Chief, 
and is to be respected and obeyed as such." 

1778 "• The Commander-in-chief takes occasion to return his warmest thanks 
to, the virtuous officers and soldiery of this army for the persevering fidelity and 
zeal which they have uniformly manifested in all their conduct. The recent 
instance of uncomplaining patience during scarcity of provisions in camp is a 
fresh proof that they possessed in an eminent degi-ee the spirit of soldiers and 
the magnanimity of patriots." Orderhj Book ( Valley Forge). 



' ' There dwelt the Man , the flower of human kind , 
Whose visage mild bespoke his noble mind, 
There dwelt the Soldier, who his sword ne'er 

drew, 
But in a righteous cause to freedom true. 
There dwelt the Hero, who ne'er fought for 

fame. 
Yet gained more glory than a Cassar's name : 



" There dwelt the Statesman, who devoid of art, 
Gave soundest counsels from an upright heart, 
And oh! Columbia, by thy son's caress, 
There dwelt The Father of the realms he blest, 
Who no wish felt to make his mighty praise. 
Like other chiefs, the means himself to raise, 
But there, retiring, breathed in pure renown, 
And felt a grandeur that disdained a crown." 
Eev. Wm. Jay {England). 



33 



34 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MARCH SECOND. 

1776 "At night a cannonade and bombardment began at the American 
works on Cobble Hill, and Lechmere's Point on the Cambridge side, and at 
Lamb's Dam on the Roxbury side, against the British works, and a number of 
shells were thrown into Boston." The Commander-in-chief was preparing to take 
post on Dorchester Point, — he said " The ground being so hard frozen yet, that 
we can not intrench, and therefore are obliged to depend entirely upon chande- 
liers, fascines, and screwed hay for our redoubts." 

1788 To James Madison, Washington said : " Liberty, when it begins to take 
root, is a plant of rapid growth. When a people are oppressed with taxes, and 
have a cause to believe that there has been a misapplication of the money, they 
illy brook the language of despotism." 

1797 President Washington wrote to his dear friend, General Knox: "Al- 
though the prospect of retirement is most grateful to my soul, and I have not a 
wish to mix again in the great world, or partake of its politics, yet, I am not 
without my regrets at parting (perhaps never more to meet) the few intimates 
whom I love ; among them be assured you are one." The President this day 
designated the public reservations in Washington city. 



"When the storm of battle blows darkest and rages highest, the memory of Washington 
shall nerve every American arm and cheer every American breast. It shall re-illumine that 
Promethean fire, that sublime flame of patriotism, that devoted love of country, which his words 
have commended, which his example has consecrated." Mufus Choate (Massachusetts). 

MARCH THIRD. 

1793 To Dr. David Stuart, Federal commissioner, Washington wrote : "I 
am bold in assuring you that no fixed salary in the United States from the 
Chief Magistrate to the Door-Keeper of the House of Representatives is equal to 
one thousand dollars clear of expenses." 

1797 The President this day sent to the commissioners of the "Fed- 
eral City" further instructions, which was his last official act. To the Secre- 
tary of State, Timothy Pickering, he gave rebutting testimony regarding the 
" Spurious Letters," requesting this statement be placed in the archives " for the 
present generation and for posterity." The same day he entertained at a fare- 
well dinner the President-elect, the cabinet, and the diplomatic corps. It is 
recorded that Washington was in happiest mood on this occasion, rejoicing at his 
own retirement and jesting at Mr. Adams " entering servitude." 

1799 George Washington of Virginia was made " General and Commander- 
in-chief of the Provisional army of the United States." Congress abolished the 
title of Lieutenant-General, and again bestowed upon the beloved commander 
the one he had so nobly borne dm-ing the Revolution. 



(( 



And lo ! fi'om Vernon's sacred hill, " Slept, and awoke, his conquering arms. 

Where peaceful spirits love to dwell — The Hero comes! whose Laurels green 

Where twice retir'd from war's alarms, In bloom eternal shall be seen." 

Lemuel Hopkins {Connecticut), 1799. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 35 

MARCH FOURTH. 

1771 Washington "reached Winchester to dinner according to appointment 
with the officers & c" claiming part of the 200,000 acres of land" under Gov. 
Dinwiddes proclamation. Washington's Diary. 

1793 President Washington requested his cabinet to agi*ee upon the cere- 
mony of his second inauguration, as no mode had been prescribed by the Consti- 
tution. They decided that the oath should be administered by Chief Justice 
Gushing, in the senate-chamber, on March the Fourth at noon precisely ; and the 
President, attended by such gentlemen as he might select, should go and return 
without form, except that he be preceded by the marshal. " Upon his departure 
from the House the people could no longer restrain obeying the genuine dictates 
of their hearts ; they saluted him with three cheers." 

1797 President Washington accompanied Hon. John Adams to the senate- 
chamber, Philadelphia, and witnessed the inauguration of that gentleman as the 
second President of the United States — a graceful precedent which has been 
generally followed by retiring executives. 



"An Englishman by race and lineage, lie concentrated in his own person and character every 
best trait and attribute that had made the Anglo Saxon name a glory to its children and a terror 
to its enemies throughout the world. But he was not so much an Englishman, that, when the 
time came for him to be so, he was not even more an American ; and in all that he was and did, 
a patriot so exalted and a leader so great and wise, that, what men called him when he came 
here to be inaugurated the first President of the United States, the civilized world has not since 
then ceased to call him — * The Father of his Country.'" 

Henry C. Potter, D. D., Bishop of New YorTc. 

MARCH FIFTH. 

1756 Colonel Washington, who had arrived in Boston, was sustained by 
Shirley in the position he had taken in regard to the question of military pre- 
cedence. There is a legend that while there he sat for a miniature to the 
distinguished artist John Singleton Copley. During his stay of ten days he 
attended the sessions of the Legislature, was feted by prominent citizens, and 
handsomely entertained by the Governor. 

1776 General Washington took possession of Dorchester Heights. He told 
his men to " Remember it is the anniversary of the Boston Massacre. — A day 
never to be forgotten. — Avenge the death of your brethren." When General 
Howe next morning saw the Americans intrenched, he exclaimed : " The rebels 
have done more in one night than my men would have done in a month." 

1789 President Washington submitted to his cabinet the letter written 
him by Louis XVI. upon receiving a copy of our Constitution, presented in the 
name of the nation : " France shall henceforth be governed, according to its 
principles," wrote that generous monarch who was soon to expiate the sins of 
his ancestors. 



' ' His countrymen are charged with fond idolatry of his memory, and his greatness is 
pleasantly depicted as a mythological exaggeration. But no church ever canonized a saint 
more worthily than he is canonized by the national affection, and to no ancient hero, bene- 
factor, or lawgiver were divine honors ever so justly decreed as to Washington the homage of 
the world." George William Curtis (New York). 



36 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



MARCH SIXTH. 



1760 Colonel Washington, interested in improvements in agricultural imple- 
ments, wrote in his diary at Mount Vernon : " Fitted a two-eyed plow, instead 
of a Duck Bill plow and with Much difficulty made my chariot wheelhorses 
plow." He also notes, "Surveyed Capt' Poseys Woodland." This survey by 
Washington has recently been sold as a valuable autograph manuscript. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief reached Newport and was received as a 
Marshal of France by Chevalier des Fouches on the flag-ship Due de Bourgoyne. 
The purpose of this visit was "to level all difQculties" and instruct the French 
admiral with the hope of giving help to Lafayette in his Virginia campaign. 
Rochambeau conducted his illustrious guest from the ship to the Vernon House, 
his headquarters. The town was illuminated ; but such was the distress that the 
citizens could not furnish their own caudles, and the towu council had provided 
each a candle, so there should be a light in every house. 

1786 Washington notes in his diarv at Mount Vernon: "Returned to the 
erection of my deer Paddock, which the bad weather had impeaded, brought 
carts from the Plantation to assist in drawing in the materials for the work." 
This small park at Mount Vernon is under the bluff, between the mansion and 
the river, and has been recently reestablished. 



"I have never seen a picture that represents Washington to me as I saw him at Valley 
Forge, and during the campaigns in which I had the honor to follow him. Perhaps that 
expression was beyond the skill of the painter ; but while I live it will remain impressed on my 
memory." Pierre dii Ponceau {France). 

MARCH SEVENTH. 

1776 The Commander-iu-chief enjoined upon his army to remember their 
pious duty, and observe this day set apart by the Massachusetts Legislature for 
fasting, humiliation, and prayer. The Orderly Book of the following morning 
contains this clause : " His Excellency the General returns his thanks to the 
militia of the surrounding districts, for their spirited and alert march to Rox- 
bury, last Saturday and Sunday, and for the noble ardor they discovered in 
defence of the cause of Liberty and their country." 

1781 General Washington attended a ball at Newport given in his honor by 
Count de Rochambeau in Mrs. Cowley's "Assembly Rooms/' which he opened by 
request of the host. His partner was the beautiful Miss Margaret Champlin, 
who selected the dance then known as "A Successful Campaign," which had 
happy significance before the close of the year. The French officers, whom the 
hero of the New World from the first seems to have fascinated, took the instru- 
ments from the musicians and played while Washington and his lovely partner 
danced the first figure. 



" Washington was completely the representative of the wants, the ideas, the knowledge, and 
the opinions of his time ; he seconded instead of thwarting the movement of mind ; he aimed 
at that which it was his duty to aim at ; hence, the coherence and perpetuity of his work. . . . 
My name probably dwelt not a day in his memory. Happy, however, that his looks were cast 
upon me ; I have felt myself warmed for it all the rest of my life. There is a virtue in the looks 
of a great man." Chateaubriand {France). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 37 

MARCH EIGHTH. 

1779 Washington wrote from Middlebrook to Lafayette, in Paris : '' Nothing 
of importance has happened since you left us, except the enemies' invasion of 
Georgia, and possession of its capital. The American Troops are again in Hutts, 
but in a more agreeable and fertile country, than they were in last Winter at 
Valley Forge ; they are better clad and more healthy than they have ever been 
since the formation of the army. We are happy in the repeated assurence and 
proofs of the friendship of our great and good ally, whom, we hope and trust, 
ere this, may be congratulated on the birth of a Prince." Lafayette, in conse- 
quence of suffering from his wound, was given an indefinite leave of absence by 
Congress, and the American minister at Versailles was instructed in the name of 
the Congress to present to him a handsome sword. 

1789 To Benjamin Harrison, Washington wrote: "My frendship is not in 
the least lessened by the difference, which has taken place in our political senti- 
ments, nor is my regard for you diminished by the part you have acted. Men's 
minds are as variant as their faces, and, where the motives to their actions are 
pure, the operation of the former is no more to be imputed to them as a crime, 
than the appearance of the latter ; for both, being the work of nature, are equally 
unavoidable." 



"He can compliment a friend in playful happy terms on his marriage, as well as thunder 
his demands for a proper attention to the interests of the country at the doors of Congress. 
Never vulgar, he frequently uses colloquial phrases with effect, and, unsuspected of being a 
poet, is fond of figurative expressions." Evert A. Duyckmck {Xeiv York). 

MARCH NINTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief through his "secret service" received infor- 
mation from the Selectmen of Boston of the preparations the British troops 
were making to embark. He placed a battery on Nook's Hill, Dorchester Point, y 
from which was sent a destructive fire. When the cannonade was opened, it ^ 
caused great surprise and alarm in the town, as they did not know that the 
Continentals had mortars or shells. The British officers conceded that the shells ^ 
were well directed, causing much injury and distress, as a large number of the 
cannon-balls passed through the houses. 

1797 Ex-President Washington left Philadelphia for Mount Vernon, ac- 
companied by his wife; George Washington Lafayette, whom he considered and, 
being relieved from executive office, could now claim as a member of his house- , 
hold ; his adopted children, Eleanor Parke Custis, age eighteen, George Wash- 
ington Parke Custis, age sixteen ; secretaries, clerks, and servants. Washington 
said it was his third, and he hoped his final, retirement from public life. 



" It seems to me that the peculiarity and strength of Washington's character and the key to 
his success is the great self-possession and calmness that enabled him to judge and to act with 
foresight and confidence impossible to men of equally forcible traits, who were less disciplined 
and self-controlled. Other men have had a great military genius, more intellectual capacity, 
more sympathetic influence over men, but of him it is to be said, ' Better is he that ruleth his 
spirit than he that taketh a city.'" Bose Terry Cooke (Connecticut). 

3* 



38 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MARCH TENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief received instructions from Congress to de- 
stroy Boston if necessary, and John Hancock, the patriotic president of Con- 
gress, also wrote him that, although he had important property in the city, 
*' not to hesitate to fire upon it." Referring to the probable embarkation of the 
enemy, Washington said: "I shall order look-outs to be kept upon all the head- 
lands, to discover their movements and course, and moreover direct Commodore 
Manly and his little squadron to dog them." 

1778 To Lafayette, "Washington wrote: "You seem to apprehend that cen- 
sure, proportioned to the disappointed expectations of the world, will fall on 
you, in consequence of the failure of the Canadian expedition. I am persuaded 
that every one will applaud your prudence in renouncing a project, in pursuing 
which you would vainly have attempted physical impossibilities." 

178*3 The famous '^Newburg Addresses " were distributed in camp, with cir- 
culars appointing a meeting of officers the following day. Although national 
independence had really been achieved, and the world was awaiting the new 
nation, this was a most critical period, and it is conceded that this incident 
offered the greatest opportunity of Washington's military career for the exercise 
of patience and diplomacy. The result proved he was equal to the occasion. 



"Then I trembled for my Country, no other man could have saved it." 

General Benjamin Lincoln (1783). 

MARCH ELEVENTH. 

1748 Master George Washington, aged sixteen, started with George William 
Fairfax, in the employ of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, on a tour of survey across the 
Blue Ridge Mountains. Noted in his diary that, *' We made forty miles and 
dined at Mr. George Neavels, Prince William County." 

1778 General Washington wrote to his lifelong friend George William 
Fairfax, in London : " I have heard nothing from you these four years, nor been 
in Virginia these last three. I have heard and fear it is true, that your seat 
(Belvoir) is verging fast to destruction. Lord Fairfax, as I have been told, after 
having bowed down to the grave, and in a manner shaken hands with Death, is 
perfectly restored, and enjoys his usual good health ; and as much vigor as falls 
to the lot of ninety." 

1783 The Commander-in-chief issued a general order censuring the '^New- 
burg Addresses," and appointing a day (15th, at 12 o'clock) to meet in council 
and consider the grievances of the disaffected ofiicers. He requested the pres- 
ence of general and field officers, and one officer from each company. 



" That act of his life, of all others the most important to his country, has been less noticed 
than almost any other ; yet it was then, and there, that he again saved his country ; under all 
circumstances more threatening than any that had preceded them. All the toil that had been 
suffered, all the blood that had been spilt, would have been suffered and spilt in vain, but for 
his patriotism, his prudence, and his matchless wisdom, when the arch fiend inspired the writer 
of the Newburgh letters. At no period of the War of Independence, were the liberties of our 
country so suspended by a single hair, as on that occasion when the war had ceased." 

E. S. TJiomas {South Carolina). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 39 

MARCH TWELFTH. 

1778 To Governor Clinton, "Washington wrote : " The hints which you were 
pleased to give of missmanagement in the North River command came also from 
several other hands, and did not a little embarrass me, as they contained charges 
rather resulting from want of judgement than any real intention to do wrong. It 
is much to be lamented that we should have officers of so high a rank as to 
entitle them to claim separate commands with so moderate a share of abilities to 
direct them in the execution of these commands." 

1782 The Commander-in-chief, exceedingly anxious lest Congress be lulled 
into false seciu'ity, in a letter to James McHenry of Maryland, said: "Never 
since the commencement of the present revolution has there been in my judge- 
ment a period, where vigorous measures were more consonant to sound policy 
than the present. The speech of the British King, and the addresses of the 
Lords and Commons, are proofs as clear as Holy Writ to me of two things ; their 
wishes to prosecute the American war, and their fears of the consequences." 



' -^^^^A, 



"Mighty captains and leaders of nations like Washington are, after all, safe from belittling 
detraction. In their solid broad-based greatness they stand like the Egyptian pyramids, defying 
time and change, and human impertinence and impiety. Critical cads and petty iconoclasts 
may scrawl inanities upon them, and clip tons of paper weights from off them, without causing 
serious defacement or appreciative loss. They are granite, they are porphyry." 

Grace Greenwood (New York). 

MAECH THIRTEENTH. 

1748 " Rode to his Lordships Quarters, (Greenway Court, seat of Lord Fair- 
fax) about four miles up ye river. Went through most beautiful groves of 
maple, spent ye best of ye day admiring ye Trees and ye richness of ye land." 
Washington's Diary. 

1778 In reference to " The irruption into Canada," Washington said: " I wish 
all the men in the upper part of the river had been drawn down to the High- 
lands instead of being kept to carry on an expedition, in which I was never con- 
sulted, but which I saw from the beginning could never succeed. Those who 
were most sanguine, I fancy, now see the impracticability of it." 

1781 Passing through Bristol, returning from Newport, the Commander-in- 
chief was received with wild enthusiasm. "The inhabitants clad in their best 
apparel, stood upon either side of the street according to their sexes, and as he 
passed showed their respect for him by strewing his path with flowers, ever- 
greens, &c., accompanied by the highest marks of civility. When Washington 
reached the bridge he turned to the inhabitants, and addressed them in brief but 
eloquent manner." 



"He was not an orator, not even a great talker, a man of few words in public and private; 
he was not a man of great learning and would have been puzzled to know what some of our 
modern philosophers mean ; he was not a brilliant genius, but he did the things which orators 
and poets and historians are proud to chronicle. His strength was in himself, and he moved the 
world by the power of his character." Thomas M. Clark, D. D., Bishop of Rhode Island. 



<M-. 



40 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



MARCH FOURTEENTH. 



1755 Colonel Washington, at Mount Vernon, received from General Brad- 
dock, through his aide-de-camp, Captain Orme, an invitation '• To join his 
military family." In accepting he said : '' I am not a little biassed by selfish 
considerations, I wish earnestly to attain some knowledge in the military 
profession." 

1778 The Commander-in-chief, relieving Colonel Radiere, placed Colonel 
Kosciusko in charge of the fortification at West Point. So well did this accom- 
plished officer perform his duties that Washington said : " To his care and sed- 
ulous application the American people are indebted for the defenses of West 
Point." 

1781 General Washington passed the night at Providence with Jabez 
Bowen. Upon his arrival the previous evening, he was surrounded by children 
bearing torches ; they crowded around him and called him " Father." He 
pressed the hand of Count Dumas (his escort who records this incident), and said 
with great emotion : " We may be beaten by the English, it is in the chance of 
war ; but behold an army which they can never conquer." 



"Is Mr. Washington among your acquaintances? If not, I recommend you to embrace 
the first opportunity to form his friendship. He is about twenty-three years of age ; with a 
countenance both mild and pleasant, promising both wit and judgment. He is of comely and 
dignified demeanor, at the same time displays much self reliance and decision. He strikes me 
as being a young man of extraordinary and exalted character, and is destined, to make no 
inconsiderable figui'e in our country." General Edward Braddock (England), 1755. 

MARCH FIFTEENTH. 

1779 General Washington, anxiously scanning the characters of the men 
who at this critical period composed the legislative body, wrote to Governor 
Thomas Nelson, of Virginia: ^'It gives me very singular pleasure to find that 
you have again taken a seat in Congress. I think there never was a time when 
cool and dispassionate reasoning, staid attention and application, great integ- 
rity, and if it were in the nature of things, unerring wisdom, were more to be 
wished for than at the present." 

1785 Of Rumsey's model for a boat propelled by steam, Washington says : 
" A view of his model, with the explanations, removed the principal doubt I ever 
had in my mind of the practicability of propelling against a stream by the aid of 
mechanical power ; but as he wanted to avail himself of my introduction of it to 
the public attention, I chose previously to see the actual performance of the 
model in a descending stream before I passed my certificate ; and having done 
so, all my doubts were satisfied." 



"Washington seemed to come to the discharge of the duties of his high office with a great 
sense of his unfamiliarity with these new calls upon him, modestly doubtful of his own ability, 
but trusting implicitly in the sustaining helpfulness and grace of that God who rules the world, 
presides in the councils of nations, and is able to supply every human defect. We have made 
marvelous progress in material things, but the stately and enduring shaft that we have erected 
at the National Capital at Washington, symbolizes the fact that he is still the First American 
Citizen." Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States. 




I— I 

I— I 

o 






o 
o 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 41 

MARCH SIXTEENTH. 

1776 The Commauder-ia-chief under heavy cannonading pushed the fortifi- 
cations at Nook's Hill. The Continentals coolly stood their ground, but did 
not stop intrenching to return the fire. 

1783 General Washington wrote to the president of Congress of the meet- 
ing of the ofiicers, in the New Building, to discuss the Newburg Addresses, Gen- 
eral Gates presiding: ''It has terminated in a manner which I had reason to 
expect, from a knowledge of that good sense and steady patriotism of the gentle- 
men of the army, which on frequent occasions I have discovered," Washington 
had made a stirring appeal to his discontented officers ; and a legend is handed 
down that when he put on his glasses to read a paragraph, he said : " You see, 
gentlemen, I have grown blind as well as gray in the service of my country, yet 
have I never doubted her justice." After speaking, the Commander-in-chief left 
the hall, that the ofiicers might discuss the subject without embarrassment. 

1792 To Governor Pinckney, of South Carolina, he said: "I was in hopes, 
that motives of policy, supported by the dii'eful effects of slavery, would have 
operated to produce a total prohibition of the importation of slaves, whenever 
the question came to be agitated in any state, that might be interested in the 
measure." 



"Washington understood the rights of mankind and the essential principles of civil and 
religious liberty, and on these safe foundations, he created our splendid political fabric." 

Charles Burroughs {Maryland). 

MARCH SEVENTEENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, with his staff and general officers, witnessed 
from the heights of Dorchester the evacuation of the city of Boston by the Brit- 
ish troops. Out of compliment to the Irish soldiers in his army, " St. Patrick " 
was given as the counter-sign, and General John Sullivan was appointed officer 
of the day. '' In honor to the Tutelar Saint of Hibernia, the Quartermaster- 
General is ordered to issue to the Irish soldiers an extra gill of whiskey." Wash- 
ington and his officers, a few hours after the departure of the British, attended 
thanksgiving service and listened to Rev. Dr. Abiel Leonard preach from 
Exodus xiv. 25: "And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them 
heavily : so that the Egyptians" said, Let us flee from the face of Israel ; for the 
Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians." 

1781 General Washington dined with Governor Trumbull at Mr. Piatt's, 
Hartford, and wrote to John Hancock his regrets at not being able to be in 
Boston this glorious anniversary, saying, "The important operations, which 
may be expected from the southward, made it necessary for me to return as 
soon as possible to the North River." 



1 



"If the title of great man ought to be reserved for him who cannot be charged with an 
indiscretion or a vice, who spent his life in establishing the independence, the glory and the 
durable prosperity of his country, who succeeded in all he undertook, and whose successes were 
never won at the expense of honor, justice, integrity, or the sacrifice of a single principle, that 
title will not be denied Washington." Jared Sparks {Massachusetts). 



42 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



MARCH EIGHTEENTH. 



1776 General Washington took formal possession of Boston, placing it 
under military law ; and instituted vigorous sanitary measures, as the city was 
in a distressing condition consequent upon a long siege. He issued a proclama- 
tion forbidding the return of citizens until Boston had been thoroughly cleaned 
and protected against the infection of smallpox. 

1783 "The Commander-in-chief is highly satisfied with the report of the 
proceedings of the ofiicers on the 15th, in obedience to the orders of the 11th. 
He begs his inability to communicate an adequate idea of the pleasing feelings 
which have been excited in his breast by the affectionate sentiments expressed 
toward him on that occasion, may be considered as an apology for his silence." 
Orderly BooJc (Newburg). 

1786 Washington notes this day in his diary at Mount Vernon, ''Got the 
mound on the left so far completed as to plant, the next largest of my weeping 
willows, thereon." The week previous is the following: ''Finished the mound 
on the right and planted the largest weeping WHlow in my nurserj' in the center 
of it — ground too wet to do any thing to the other Mound on the left." 



"It is a remarkable fact, that from his youth upward he evinced military capacity beyond 
that of all the trained and experienced officers, with whom he was associated or brought into 
conflict. ... In final contemplation of his character we shall not hesitate to pronounce Wash- 
ington the greatest of good men and the best of great men." Edward Everett (Massachusetts). 

MARCH NINETEENTH. 

1760 Colonel Washington placed upon record such practical experiments 
from time to time as he made in plows. " Peter (my Smith) and I after several 
efforts to make a plow after a new model partly of my own contriving, was feign 
to give it out, at least for the present." 

1776 General Washington wrote from Cambridge to the president of Con- 
gress: "As soon as the Ministerial troops had quitted the town, I ordered a 
thousand men (who had had the small pox) under command of General Putnam 
to take possession of the heights. But as the enemy are still in the harbor, I 
thought it not prudent to march off with the main body of the army, until I 
should be satisfied they had quitted the coast. The situation in which I found 
their works evidently discovered that their retreat was made with the greatest 
precipitation." 

1779 General Greene, Colonel Wads worth, and the ofiicers of the artillery 
gave a ball at Middlebrook in compliment to the Commander-in-chief. General 
Greene wrote that they had quite a lively little frisk, " and that General Wash- 
ington and Mrs. Greene danced upwards of three hours without once sitting 
down." 



"In Heaven and Washington we placed reliance, 
We met the proud Britons, and bid them defiance. 
The cause we supported was just, and was glorious. 
When men fight for freedom, they must be victorious." 

Francis Hopkinson (Pennsylvania). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 43 



MARCH TWENTIETH. 



1775 Colonel Washington attended the second Virginia Convention, held at 
Richmond, and was chosen a member of the second General Congress, to meet 
in Philadelphia. He was one of the enthusiastic listeners to Patrick Henry's 
eloquent speech — "An appeal to arms and the God of Hosts is all that is left for 
us." He wrote his younger brother, John Augustine, encouraging him in the 
effort to raise a company, promising to review it, and said : '^ It is my intention 
to spend my life and fortune in the cause we are engaged in, if needful." 

1776 The Commander-in-chief at the head of the main body of the army 
entered Boston, and was received by the people with the wildest expressions of 
joy and gratitude. He said : *' The town although it has suffered greatly, is not 
in so bad a state as I expected to find it." 

1778 Washington, in special order to General Lacey, said: "Sunday next 
being the time on which the Quakers hold one of their general meetings, a num- 
ber of that society will probably be attempting to go into Philadelphia. This is 
an intercourse that we should by all means endeavor to interrupt, as the plans 
' settled at these meetings are of most pernicious tendency. I would therefore 
have you dispose of your parties in such a manner as will most probably fall in 
with these people." 



"The singular trials, virtues, talents and services of our hero during the late war, are best 
seen in his official letters." David Tappan, D. D. {Massachusetts). 

MARCH TWENTY-FIRST. 

1760 Colonel Washington, at Mount Vernon, noted, " This day grafted 41 
cherry trees, 12 magnum bonum plumbs and planted 4 nuts of the Mediterra- 
nean pines. The cherries and plums came from Colonel Masons; the nuts 
from Mr. Greens." 

1782 General Washington and his wife, the French minister, and Baron 
Steuben attended the commencement exercises of the University of Pennsylva- 
nia, in the old hall on Fovirth street below Arch, Philadelphia. The audience 
was large and distinguished, including the members of Assembly and the Su- 
preme Executive Council of the State. 

1791 President Washington left Philadelphia for Mount Vernon, where 
after a short and much needed repose he started on his Southern tour. He re- 
ceived from officials and citizens of Maryland every mark of respect and affec- 
tion, and all seemed to vie "with each other to make their distinguished guest 
sensible of the gratitude of a free and enlightened people." 



"The mind of Washington was eminently practical ; his perceptive faculties were strongly 
developed; the sense of beauty and the power of expression, those endowments, so large in the 
scholar and the poet, were the least active in his nature ; hut the observing powers whereby 
space is measured at a glance and the phvsical qualities noted correctly, the reflective instincts 
through which just ideas of facts and circumstances are realized. These noble and efficient 
properties eminently distinguished his mental organization and were exhibited as its normal 
traits from childhood to age." Henry Theodore Tuckerman {Massachusetts). 



44 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MARCH TWENTY-SECOND. 

1776 General Washington issued a command from Cambridge, that all offi- 
cers of the Continental army should assist the ci\al authorities in preserving 
good order. The colonels were officially notified that " they would be held re- 
sponsible for any damage done the Barracks," which were the University 
Buildings. 

1781 Washington, from New Windsor, wrote to Joseph Willard, correspond- 
ing secretary of the American Academy (Boston) : " I am much indebted to you 
for announcing m}' election, as a member of the American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences. I feel myself particularly honored by this relation to a Society, 
whose efforts to promote useful knowledge will, I am persuaded, acquire them a 
high reputation in the literary world." 

1783 In the Orderly Book, Newbui'g, appears the following: *' In justice to the 
zeal and abihty of the Chaplains, as well as to his own feelings, the Commander- 
in-chief thinks it a duty to declare that the regularity and decorum with which 
Divine Service is performed every Sunday, will reflect great credit on the army 
in general, tend to improve the morals, and at the same time increase the happi- 
ness of the soldiery, and must afford the most pure, rational entertainment for 
every serious and well disposed mind." 



"As civilization shall perfect itself and character become the basis of renown, the fame of 
George Washington will increase, and he will stand forth a grand Doric column, simple and 
sublime." Elizabeth Oakes Smith {Maine). 

MARCH TWENTY-THIRD. 

1748 George Washington's ^'Journal of Survey" (at the age of sixteen) 
has the following description of an Indian war-dance : '' They clear a Large 
circle & make a great Fire in ye middle. Men seat themselves around it. Ye 
speaker makes a grand speech. After he has finished ye best Dancer jumps up 
as one awaked out of a sleep, & Runs & Jumps about ye Ring in a most comicle 
manner. Ye musick is a Pot half full of water, with a Deerskin stretched over 
it, & a goard with some shot in it to rattle, & a Piece of an horse's tail tied to it 
to make it look fine." 

1793 There was a general fear that the United States would be drawn into 
foreign complications. The President said : " All our late accounts from Europe 
hold up the expectation of a general war. I ardently wish we may not be forced 
into it by the conduct of other nations. If we are permitted to improve without 
interruption the great advantages, which nature and circumstances have placed 
within our reach,"many years wiU not revolve, before we may be ranked among 
the most responsible, and happiest people on this globe." 



" Few men who have earned for themselves a celebrated name in the history of the world 
exhibit such a harmony, such a concordant symmetry of all the qualities calculated to render 
himself and others happy, as Washington ; and it has been very appropriately observed that, 
like the masterpieces of ancient art, — he must be the more admired in the aggregate, the more 
closely he is examined in detail." George von Rammer {Holland). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 45 

MARCH TWENTY-FOURTH. 

1778 The Commander-in-chief reported from Valley Forge : " As it is not 
improper for Congress to have some idea of the present temper of the army, it 
may not be amiss to remark in this place, that, since the mouth of August last, 
between two and three hundred officers have resigned their commissions, and 
many others were with difficulty dissuaded from it." 

1791 The President and secretary embarked at Rock Hall, Eastern Shore, 
for Annapolis. There was a severe storm; the boat, being badly managed, ran 
ashore at the mouth of the Severn River, where they remained in peril and ex- 
treme discomfort until morning. Governor Howell and the citizens who were 
prepared to receive him felt gi-eat uneasiness. 

1799 General Washington in a letter to Dr. Thornton, one of the commis- 
sioners of the Federal Territory, regarding his secretary, Colonel Tobias Lear, 
who was suffering with rheumatism in his feet, said : " It would be well for him 
to remain in the Federal City as long as he could derive benefit to his under- 
standing from your friendly perscriptions." 



"Every citizen of these states, will be penetrated with astonishment and kindled into 
thanksgiving, when he reflects that our globe had existed 6000 years before Washington ap- 
peared in the theatre of the world ; and that he was then destined to appear in America, to be 
the ornament, the deliverer, the protector, the delight." Rev. Dr. Wharton (New Jersey). 

MARCH TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1776 On the resolution of John Adams, Congress voted unanimously that 
the thanks of the country be tendered to the Commander-in-chief, and that a gold 
medal be presented to him, commemorative of the evacuation of Boston. This 
medal was executed in Paris by Duvivier under the supervision of Thomas Jef- 
ferson and Colonel Humphreys, and presented to Washington in 1786. It was 
purchased from a member of the Washington family by fifty citizens of Boston, 
and on the centenary of the evacuation presented to the city, and is now de- 
posited in the public library. This medal is, and must forever remain, the most 
significant medallic memorial of this country. 

1779 In Reading, Mass., at a public festival of the American Union Lodge, 
the first toast given was, '' General Washington," and the second was, drunk in 
silence, standing, to " The memory of Warren, Montgomery and Wooster, three 
distinguished Masons who had fallen on the battle-fields of the Revolution." 
A toast to Washington from this date has been the first in order in all Masonic 
festivals. 

1790 The new Trinity Church, New York, was consecrated ; Bishop Samuel 
Provoost officiated. The"^ President, Mrs, Washington, and their two children 
occupied a handsomely draped pew, which the wardens, John Jay and James 
Duane, had selected and arranged for the Executive family. 



"George Washington was a nobleman by birth and nurture; a warrior of warriors; a 
statesman of statesmen, but it was his crowning glory that he was a Christian." 

Richard Hooker Wilbur, Bishop of Alabama. 



46 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MARCH TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief wrote to Greneral Armstrong: "The many- 
remarkable interpositions of the divine Government in the hours of our deepest 
distress and darkness, have been too himinous to suffer me to doubt the happy 
issue of the present contest, but the period for its accomplishment may be too far 
distant for a person of my years, whose morning and evening hours and every 
moment, pants for retirement and for those domestic and rural enjoyments which 
in my estimation far surpass the highest pageantry of this world." 

1789 General Washington, having assurance that he was the people's choice 
for Chief Executive, made every preparation to respond to the summons of Con- 
gress to take the Executive office. He wrote his nephew Robert Lewis : " I 
have selected you to escort your aunt to Philadelphia, and you will be advised 
by your cousin George Washington, in time to be at Mount Vernon and com- 
mence your Squire-ship." 

1798 Washington, in explaining why the department buildings were located 
so far from the Capitol, said: *'It was the universal complaint of them all, that 
while the Legislatiire was in session, they could do little or no business ; so much 
were they interrupted by the individual visits of members (in office hours) and 
by calls for papers. Many of them have declared to me, that they have been 
obliged often to go home and deny themselves in order to transact the current 
business." 



"His mind was altogether practical, commanding and original." 

Thomas Caldwell, M. D. {New YorTc). 

MARCH TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1760 In consequence of his wife's delicate health, following a severe attack 
in January of measles, accompanied with serious complications, Washington re- 
mained chiefly at home, not even going to Williamsburg, and this entry gives a 
sample of the manner he was occupied : '' Set my plow to work and found she 
answered very well in the lower pasture, w'ch I this day began plowing with 
the large bay mare and Rankin. Agreed to give Mr. Wm Triplet £18 to build 
me two houses in the front of my house (plastering them also,) and running 
walls for palisades to them from the great house, and from the great house to 
the wash house and kitchen also." 

1779 From Middlebrook, Washington wrote to his friend George Mason: 
" I view things very differently, I fear, from what the people in general do, who 
seem to think the contest at an end, and to make money, and to get places the 
only thing now remaining to do. I have beheld no day since the commence- 
ment of hostilities, that I have thought her liberties in such imminent danger 
as at Present." 



" Washington was grave in manners but perfectly easy. There was a commanding air in 
his presence which compelled respect, and forbade too great a freedom towards him, indepen- 
dently of that species of awe which is always felt in the moral influence of a great character. 
In every movement, too, there was a polite gracefulness equal to any met with, in the most 
polished individuals in Europe, and his smile was extraordinarily attractive. It was observed 
to me there was an expression in Washington's face that no painter had succeeded in taking." 

William Hazlitt (England). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 47 



MARCH TWENTY-EIGHTH. 



1774 Colonel Washington was chosen vestryman of Fairfax Parish, Christ 
Church, Alexandria, Va. He made this entry in his diary at Mount Vernon : 
"Bought at Alexandria the sloop Arm and Elizabeth for one hundred and 
seventy-five pounds." 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, accompanied by his suite and the general 
officers, the General Assembly of Massachusetts, the Boston City Council, and 
other civil officials, attended, in a body, the " Thursday Lecture " at the Old Brick 
Meeting House. Dr. Andrew Eliot dehvered a thanksgiving sermon. This 
divine had remained in Boston during the siege, and gave the General a very 
interesting account of his experiences. After the service the notables dined 
together at the '' Bunch of Grapes," where dinner was provided by the city. 
" Joy and gratitude sat on every countenance, and smiled in every eye." 

1778 "The Baron Steuben, a Lieutenant-General in foreign service, and a 
gentleman of great military experience, having obligingly undertaken to exer- 
cise the office of Inspector-General in the Army, the Commander-in-chief, till 
the pleasure of Congress be known, desires he may be respected and obeyed as 
such, and hopes and expects that all officers, of whatever rank, will afford him 
every aid in their power in the execution of his office." Orderly Book ( Valley 
Forge). 



" By an instinct which is unerring we call Washington, with grateful reverence, ' The Father 
of His Country.'" William Ellery Charming, D. D. {Rhode Island). 

MARCH TWENTY-NINTH. 

1776 General Washington, at Cambridge, received an address from the 
'' General Assembly of Massachusetts Bay." He wrote the following character- 
istic instructions to Major-General Putnam in ordering him to New York : 
*' Upon your arrival there, you will assume the command, and immediately pro- 
ceed in continuing to execute the plan proposed by Major-General Lee, for forti- 
fying that city, and securing the passes of the East and North Rivers. Your 
long service and experience will, better than any particular directions at this dis- 
tance, point out to you the works most proper to be first raised ; and your perse- 
verance, activity and zeal will lead you, without my recommending it, to exert 
every nerve to disappoint the enemy's designs." 

1777 Washington was encouraged by the arrival at Philadelphia of 11,000 
stands of French arms, " which with those recently received at Portsmouth 
would make our supply respectable." He was also gratified by an assurance 
from Rev. Dr. Kirkland, Oneida missionary, " that the evidence of friendship 
from France would probably keep several of the Indian nations neutral." 



"After the glorious battle of Bunker Hill, Congress sent an officer to command the Ai-mies, 
who had seen war in a former epoch, and who had conciliated all the spirits in Congress, and in 
the Provincial assemblies by his sagacity, his ability, his firm moderation and temperance in all 
things, and who more recently has become a great man, and as one has said, * the greatest of 
great men : ' that officer was Washington." Sismondi {France). 



48 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MARCH THIETIETH. 

1783 General Washington thanked Congress " for the communication which 
you have been pleased to make to me, and the army, of the glorious news of a 
general peace." These despatches were sent from Paris by the Marquis de 
Lafayette, on the armed frigate Triomphe, which was permitted by the French 
monarch to bear the tidings to America, that the commissioners at Paris had 
\ on January 20th signed the General Treaty of Peace. To General Greene, he 
said : " It remains only for the States to be wise, and to establish their inde- 
pendence on the basis of an inviolable efficacious union, and a firm confederation, 
which may prevent theii' being made the sport of European policy." 

1791 President Washington personally inspected the land, met the land- 
holders, and convinced them that it was to their interest to make concessions, 
and issued from Georgetown the proclamation fixing the boundary lines of the 
Federal District, ten miles square, " on the banks of the Potomac where the seat 
of government should be permanently located." The landholders agreed to sur- 
render one half of the lands they held, on condition, *' that for the squares for 
public buildings, they shall be paid 25 pounds per acre, and when the whole shall 
be surveyed and laid off as a city by Major L'Enfant, the present proprietors 
shall retain every other lot." Later they wished to dictate what use should be 
made of the public squares. Washington said : '' This is absurd." 



"His fame, bounded by no country, will be confined to no age." 

Sir William Hamilton {England). 

MARCH THIRTY-FIRST. 

1754 Major Washington at Alexandria received a commission as lieutenant- 
colonel, from Governor Dinwiddle, bearing date the fifteenth. Two days later 
he left with two companies of one hundred and fifty men to join Captain Trent 
as an advance-guard of Colonel Fry's expedition to the Ohio, to erect forts and 
defend the British possessions. 

1776 To his brother John, the Commander-in-chief wrote : " The enemy left 
all their works standing in Boston and on Bunker's Hill ; and formidable they 
are. The town has shared a much better fate than was expected, the damage 
done to the houses being nothing equal to report. But the inhabitants have 
suffered a good deal, in being plundered by the soldiery at their departure." 
Referring to the Tories, he said : " One or two have done, what a great number 
ought to have done long ago, committed suicide." 

1779 Washington from Middlebrook wrote to James Warren in Massachu- 
setts : " Let vigorous measures be adopted, to punish speculators forestallers & 
extortioners, and above all to sink the money by heavy taxes, to promote public 
& private economy and to encourage manufactures. Measures of this sort, gone 
heartily into by the several states would strike at once at the root of all our 
evils, and give the coup de grace to the British hope, of subjugating this conti- 
nent either by their arms or their acts." 



" The want of the age is a European Washington." Lamartine (France). 




Drawn 6j/ DkLancev W. Gill. 



FEDERAL HALL, NEW YORK, 1789. 
After an old print. 




APEIL FIRST. 

1777 When Elias Boudinot, the devoted philanthropist, refused to accept 
the position of " Commissary of Prisons," Washington from Morristown replied : 
" I have nothing in view, but the Salvation of this Country ; but it is impossible 
to accomplish it alone, and if men of character and influence will not come for- 
ward and join in my exertions all will be lost." Upon this appeal Mr. Boudinot 
undertook the onerous duties, and it is doubtful if a man better adapted for the 
work could have been selected. Congress appointed him " Commissary- General 
of Prisoners," with a colonel's pay, and permitted him to choose two assistants. 

1782 The Commander-in-chief having arrived the night before at Newburg 
from Philadelphia, where he had been in consultation with Congress since the 
26th of November, was welcomed most cordially by of&cers and soldiers. 

1787 With evident gratification Greneral Washington notes: "In the even- 
ing one Young, who lives on Col. Ball's place, a farmer, came here to see, he 
says, my drill plow & staid all night." Washington left no statement of having 
his plows patented; 1)ut notes in the following autumn: "A packing box for a 
plow model, one hundred and fifty nails used in making box." 

1789 To General Knox, Washington wrote : " My movements to the chair of 
government will be accompanied by feelings, not unlike those of a culprit, who 
is going to the place of his execution ; so unwilling am I, in the evening of a 
life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an ocean of 
difficulties, without that competency of political skill, abilities, and inchnation, 
which are necessary to manage the helm. I am sensible that I am embarking 
the voice of the people, and a good name of my own on this voyage ; but what 
returns will be made for them, Heaven alone can foretell. Integiity and fii-mness 
are all I can promise." 



" The character of Washington may want some of those poetical elements which dazzle 
and delight the multitude, but it possessed fewer inequalities and a rarer union of virtues than 
perhaps ever fell to the lot of one man. Prudence, firmness, sagacity, moderation, an overriil- 
ing judgment, an immovable justice, courage that never faltered, patience that never wearied, 
truth that disdained all artifice, magnanimity without alloy. It seems as if Providence had 
endowed him in a pre-eminent degree with the qualities requisite to fit him for the high destiny 
he was called upon to fulfill. The fame of Washington stands apart from every name in his- 
tory : shining with a truer light and a more benignant glory. . . . Glory, that blatant word 
which haunts so many military minds like the bray of the trumpet, formed no part of his aspi- 
rations. To act justly was his instinct, to promote the public weal his constant effort, to de- 
serve the affection of good men, his ambition." Washington Irving (New York). 

4 49 



50 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

APRIL SECOND. 

1748 George Washington when surveying in the Shenandoah Valley noted 
in his journal: ''Last night was a blowing rainy night. Our straw catch'd a 
Fire, we were laying upon. We did two Lots & was attended by a great Com- 
pany of People, men, women, & children, that attended us through ye woods 
as we went, shewing their antick tricks. I really think they seem to be as igno- 
rant a set of people as the Indians. They would never speak English but when 
spoken to, they speak all Dutch." 

1755 Mary Washington came to Mount Vernon alarmed, having heard her 
son thought of joining the Braddock expedition. Colonel Washington wrote 
this day Captain Orme at Alexandria, inclosing " a small map of the back coun- 
try, which though imperfect, and roughly drawn, for want of proper instruments, 
may give you a better knowledge of the parts designated than you have hitherto 
had an opportunity of acquiring." 



" I made the war, which has proved so fatal to my country, that the treaty entered into 
long ago with father Washington might not be broken. To his Mendly arm I hold fast. I will 
never break that chain of friendship we made together, and which bound us to stand to the 
United States. He was a father to the Muscoga people ; and not only to them, but to all the 
people beneath the Sun. His talk I now hold in my hand. The British can no more persuade 
us to do wrong; they have deceived us once, and can deceive us no more. You are two great 
peoples. K you go to war, we will have no concern in it. I talk thus, knowing that Father 
Washington advised us never to interfere in wars. He told us that those in peace were the 
happiest people. He told us that if the enemy attacked him, he had warriors enough, and did 
not wish his red children to help him." Big Warrior to General Jackson (1814), 

APRIL THIRD. 

1773 Colonel Washington wrote from Mount Vernon to Benedict Calvert, 
Esq., approving of the engagement of his son-in-law and ward Mr. Custis, and 
Miss Eleanor Calvert, but wished the marriage delayed " in consideration of his 
youth, inexperience, and uni'ipened education. If the affection which they have 
avowed for each other, is fixed upon a solid basis, it will receive no diminution 
in the com-se of two or three years." 

1776 The Commander-in-chief this day was made " First LL. D. of Har- 
vard College." The diploma is thus worded : " The Corporation of Harvard 
College, in Cambridge, in New England, constituted and created the aforesaid 
Grentleman, G-eorge Washington, who merits the highest honor, Doctor of 
Laws, — the Law of Nature and Nations, and the Civil Law." The president 
said : "We bestow on one, who by the signal smiles of Divine Providence on his 
military operations, drove the Fleet and Troops of the enemy with disgraceful 
precipitation from the Town of Boston, the Degree of Doctor of Laws." 

1790 President Washington notified the '' Senate House of Congress," that 
he approved the act accepting the cession to the U. S. of the Territory of Ten- 
nessee from the State of North Carolina, and the ceding of " The Light House at 
the Hook " from the State of New York. 



" In peace and in war we contemplate in Washington a highly finished character. Often 
are the brilliant qualities of the warrior shaded with the deep vices of the man, for the imprin- 
cipled may be fired with thoughts of military glory ; — but Washington's heroism was the heroism 
of virtue, not of ambition." John Thornton Kirhland, LL. D., President of Harvard. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 51 



APRIL FOURTH. 



1776 General Washington, at Cambridge, received an address from the Se- 
lectmen of Boston, thanking him for the delivery of their city. Leaving Gen- 
^ eral Artemns Ward in command, he started for New York, and was met at 
Providence by Governor Cooke and council. The following evening a handsome 
ball was given in his honor by the citizens. 

1784 Washington wrote to Marchioness de Lafayette, inclosing charming 
notes to George Washington and Mile. Virginie de Lafayette. To the mother he 
said : " You must have a cm-iosity to see the country young, rude and unculti- 
vated as it is, for the liberties of which yom* husband has fought, bled and ac- 
quired much glory, where every body admires and every body loves him. Come 
then let me entreat you and call my cottage your home, for yom* own doors do 
not open to you with more readiness than mine." 

1797 Master Mason Ex-President Washington attended a dinner given him 
by his own lodge in Alexandria, Va. This lodge is very rich in Washingtoniana, 
having an original portrait, the chair which he used as presiding officer, and the 
regaha embroidered by the nuns of Nantes. 



" The immortal Washington, himself a Free Mason, devoted his hand, his heart, his sacred 
honor, and if need be his life also, to the cause of freedom of conscience, of speech, and of 
action, and from his successful leading has arisen this nation." 

Myron M. Parker, G. M. ( Washington, D. C). 

APRIL FIFTH. 

1758 Colonel Washington, with characteristic modesty, and acting on a prin- 
ciple to which he firmly held through life, to accept no favors, wrote to his mer- 
chant, Richard Washington, London: ''You are pleased to Dub me with a Title 
I have no pretentions to, that is, Ye Hon'ble." At the same time he gave an order 
to procui-e him a handsome outfit which proved to include his wedding suit. 

1783 General Washington wrote from Newburg to Lafayette, in Paris, his 
grave fears for the action of the young Republic, saying, "We stand now an Inde- 
pendent people and have yet to learn political Tactics. We are placed among 
the nations of the Earth and have a character to establish ; but how shall we 
acquit ourselves, time must discover. The probability is that local or State 
politics will interfere too much with the more liberal and extensive plan of gov- 
ernment, which wisdom and foresight, freed from the mist of prejudice, would 
dictate." 

1792 President Washington vetoed the Apportionment of Representatives 
Bill, giving as a reason, " That the Constitution provides for the representation 
of the people." The fii-st exercise of this constitutional right naturally excited 
the jealous old patriots. 



" In thinking about Washington I have always been surprised by the almost unequalled 
balance that he was enabled to preserve between the centrifugal force of greatness and the cen- 
tripetal force of goodness. The first alone would have made him a brilliant meteor ; the last 
alone would have held him in some quiet station of life ; the two combined made him history's 
most shining star." Frances Elizabeth Willard (New York). 



52 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



APRIL SIXTH. 



1778 Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Pleasants, and Mrs. Drinker (Quaker ladies) arrived 
this day at Valley Forge to arrange if possible a way by which they might com- 
municate with their friends who were prisoners at Winchester, Va. Mrs. Drinker, 
in her journal, says : "We requested an audience with the General, and sat mth 
his wife (a sociable, pretty kind of woman) until he came in. It was not long 
before G-. Washington came, and discoursed with us freely, but not so long as we 
could have wished, as dinner was served, to which he invited us." 

1789 In accordance with resolution, the first Congress under the Constitution 
met in New York "on the fii'st Wednesday in March," which was the 4th day of 
that month. So tardily did the members arrive, that a quorum was not present 
until this day. When the electoral returns were opened, it was found that George 
Washington of Virginia was chosen President of the United States. 

1794 President Washington, indignant over a fraud, wi'ote his manager at 
Mount Vernon: ''The imposition with respect to the garden seeds is very un- 
justifiable; 'tis infinitely worse than simple robbery, for there you lose your 
money only ; but when it is given for bad seed you lose your money, youi* labor 
in preparing for the reception of them, and a whole season." 



"Not feeling the lust of power, and ambitious only for honorable fame, he devoted himself 
to his country upon disinterested principles, and his actions wore not the semblance but the 
reality of virtue." Aaron Bancroft {Massachusetts). 

APRIL SEVENTH. 

1791 The President left Mount Vernon on his Southern tour, and records in 
his joui'nal: "In attempting to cross the ferry at Colchester with the four 
Horses hitched to the chariot by the neglect of the person who stood before 
them, one of the leaders got overboard when the boat was in swimming water 
and 50 yards from the shore, with much difficulty he escaped di'owning before 
he could be disengaged. His struggling frightened the others, and in quick suc- 
cession they all got overboard. Providentially, indeed miraculously, by the ex- 
ertions of people who went off in Boats & jumped into the River as soon as the 
Batteau was forced into wading water no damage was sustained by the horses, 
Cai'riage or harness." 

1796 To Andrew Parks, a suitor of his orphan niece, the President wrote: 
"My wish is to see Harriet happy; one step towards which, is for her to be 
united with a gentleman of respectable connections ; and of good disposition ; with 
one who is more in the habit of making than in spending money; and who can 
support her in the way she has always lived." To his sister he said: "I would 
prefer that Harriet would remain single until we are at Mount Vernon; she 
would then be in the way of seeing much company and would have a much 
fairer chance of matching respectably." 



"Many great and illustrious men have equaled George Washington in some one or other 
single quality ; but scarcely any man of ancient or modern times, possessed a mental and moral 
constitution of such beautiful, complete and uniform development." 

Samuel M. Smucker (Pennsylvania), 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 53 

APRIL EIGHTH. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief, from New Windsor, wrote Gov. Livingstone : 
" Intelligence has been sent to me by a gentleman living near the enemy's lines, 
who has an opportunity of knowing what passes among them, that four parties 
have been sent out with orders to take or assassinate youi* Excellency, Governor 
Clinton, myself and a fourth person whose name is not known." 

1786 "Rid a little after sunrise to Muddy Hole to try my drill plow again, 
which mth the alteration of the harrow yesterday, I find will fully answer my 
expectation ; and that it drops the grains thicker, or thinner in proportion to 
the quantity of seed in the Barrel ; the less there is in it the faster it issues 
from the holes ; the weight of a quantity iu a barrel occasions (I presume) a 
pressure on the holes that do not admit of a free discharge of the seed through 
them." Washington's Diary. 

1791 This day President Washington aiTived at his early home, and notes : 
"Dined and lodged with my sister Lewis at Fredi'icksburg." On the 10th he 
proceeded to Richmond. "Left Fredricksbui'gh about 6 o'clock — myseK, Majf 
Jackson and one Servant breakfasted at General Spotswoods — the rest of my 
Servants continued on to Todd's Ordinary where they also breakfasted. Dined 
at the Bowling Green — and lodged at Kenner's Tavern 14 miles farther — iu 
aU 35 m." 



"A man whom the adverse forces of the world have not been able to wreck, a lover of per- 
fection, who had so wrought it out iu his own character, that to know him was to be awed into 
veneration of his virtues." James Lane Allen (Kentucky). 

APRIL NINTH. 

1776 General Washington arrived at New London, from Norwich, Connecti- 
cut, where at the house of Jedediah Huntington, Esq., he had conferred with 
Governor TrumbuU. He remained through the night at Captain Nathaniel 
Shaw's, and with Captain Hopkins discussed plans for the organization and estab- 
lishment of a naval force. 

1781 General Washington wrote to Colonel John Laurens, commissioner at 
Paris, in regard to the French fleet not reaching the Chesapeake to support La- 
fayette : " The failure of this expedition, which was the most flattering iu the com- 
mencement, is much to be regretted ; because a successful blow in that quarter 
would, in all probability, have given a decisive turn to our affairs in all the 
Southern States ; because it has been attended mtli considerable expense on our 
part, and much inconvenience to the State of Virginia, by the assembly of its 
militia; because the world are disappointed at not seeing Arnold in Gibbets." 

1783 The Commander-in-chief received from General Sir Guy Carleton de- 
spatches which had arrived from England announcing the conclusion of a gen- 
eral peace. Rephdng, he said : " I shall be happy in the momentary expectation of 
having it in my power to publish to the American Army a general cessation of 
hostilities between Great Britain and America." 



" General "Washington is not the idol of a day, but the hero of ages. . . . The whole range 
of history does not present to our view a character upon which we can dwell with such pure and 
entire admiration." London Courier (1800). 



54 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



APRIL TENTH. 



1790 President Washington approved the fii-st Patent Law passed by the Con- 
gress of the United States. In his tii'st annual address to that body, he had urged 
the introduction of useful foreign inventions and the encouragement of inventors 
at home. He had shown an unflagging interest in all mechanical advancement, 
especially that pertaining to agriculture. He believed in the possibility of utiliz- 
ing steam as a power to propel vessels ; encoui'aged Rumsey and Fitch, having 
examined their models and seen Rumsey's boat in motion. 

1792 Washington, in thanking Archbishop Carroll, with whom he held most 
friendly relations, for his pious and benevolent work in instructing the Indians in 
the principles and duties of Christianity, said : " The most effectual means of 
securing the permanent attachment of our savage neighbors is to convince them 
that we are just, and to show them that a j)roper and friendly intercourse with 
us would be for our mutual advantage." 



"Washington was a man all over — a man with strong appetites, fierce temper, positive, 
belligerent, and aggressive. The quality in which he differed from almost all men was his abso- 
lutely perfect control over his passions and his mind. In his boyhood he appreciated the weak 
points of his character — his tendency to be moved by impulse and sudden tempests of emotion; 
and he set himself deliberately at work to correct these faults. His fortitude, his patience, 
his perseverance, his tenacity, were all the result of this introspection, and, taken with the severe 
physical training of his youth, in the woods with his horse and gun, in the forest with his 
hatchet and surveyor's compass, fitted him for control over the wills of other men, and rendered 
him capable of dealing with great affairs, when the time called for those qualities." 

Bradley T. Johnston (Maryland). 

APRIL ELEVENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief arrived in New Haven on his way to New 
York, having passed the previous night in Lyme at the house of John McCurdy. 
In answer to an appeal from Captain McKay, who was a prisoner in Hartford, he 
said : " The situation of your family is indeed distressing, but such is the event 
of war ; it is far from being singular. The brave Colonel Allen, an officer of 
rank, has been torn from his dearest connections, sent to England in irons, and is 
now confined to the most servile drudgery on board one of the King's Ships." 

1796 President Washington made an appointment to sit to Gilbert Stuart 
for a portrait, at the request of Senator and Mrs. Bingham, who wished to pre- 
sent it to that stanch friend of America, the Marquis of Lansdowne. The 
artist produced a full-length portrait, rich in tone, and greatly approved by con- 
temporaries. Upon its reception this nobleman was so mucla gratified that he 
declared, but for his age, he would cross the Atlantic to thank Washington for 
sitting. Upon his death it was sold at auction vnth his personal effects, and in 
1824 was again in the market and disposed of by lottery, bringing £2000. This 
painting is now the property of Lord Rosebery. In 1876 John Delaware Le%\as, 
M. P., then its owner, permitted this portrait to be exhibited at our national Cen- 
tennial celebration in Philadelphia. 



" It is not in the grasp of any painter to hold the dignity and mightiness of the great sub- 
ject. There is a concealed, though not unconquered, passion working within him, which ren- 
dered him a somewhat painful subject." James Sharpless {England). 

4* 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 55 

APRIL TWELFTH. 

1743 Augustine Washington, the father of George Washington, died at his 
seat near Fredericksburg, Stafford County, Virginia, aged 49. He was married 
twice and left six children. The " home farm," on which he died, he bequeathed 
to George, his third son, and oldest child of the second marriage. 

1748 George Washington in his survey in the Shenandoah Valley noted : 
" The Trough is a couple of Ledges of Mountains, impassable, running side & 
side together for above 7 or 8 miles & ye river down between them. You must 
ride round ye back of ye mountain for to get below them. After we had pitched 
our Tents & made a very large Fire, we pulled out our knapsack in order to Re- 
cruit ourselves. Everyone was his own cook. Our Spits was forked Sticks, our 
Plates was a large chip ; as for Dishes, we had none. This day see a Rattled 
snake, ye first we had seen in all our journey." 

1791 President Washington spent several days in Richmond, on his South- 
ern tour, which proved to be his last visit to the capital of Virginia. He was 
entertained by Governor Henry Lee, the famous cavalry ofiicer, made a careful 
study of the city's improvements, received and answered addresses from citizens, 
and thanked them with characteristic simplicity " for the very favorable senti- 
ments you express to me." 



"Virginia in giving this illustrious patriot to the whole country recognizes the fact, that 
though one State may contain the locality of his birth and the place of his burial, no one State 
can bind his boundless fame." Fitzhugh Lee ( Virginia). 

APRIL THIRTEENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief arrived in New York, attended by Adjutant- 
General Gates and his aide-de-camp William Palfrey. He established his head- 
quarters on Pearl Street, near Cedar, remaining six weeks, where from many 
soiu'ces he received expressions of admiration and gratitude upon the happy 
termination of his first campaign. He found much to commend in General 
Schuylei''s management and work in the Department .of New York, 

1777 Washington wi'ote to Patrick Henry : " It gives me much concern to 
hear that the recruiting service proceeds so slowly in most of the states. That it 
is the case in Virginia affects me in a peculiar manner. I am induced to believe, 
that the apprehension of the small pox, and its calamitous consequences have 
greatly retarded the enlistments." 

1791 This extract from his diary at Richmond makes it evident that the Pres- 
ident, '^ though on pleasm'e bent," did not discard all official cares : " Fixed with 
Colonel Carrington (the Supervisor of the District) the surveys of Inspection and 
named the characters for them ; an acc't. of which, was transmitted to the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury." 



"As the incidents of his age are more generally known, as the historian throws more light 
on its stirring movements and the rapid scenes shift from home to camp, from camp to legisla- 
tive assembly, from the farm to the Presidency and back again to the retirement of his estate, 
the halo deepens aroimd him, and each fact in his life acquires a charm and poetry of its own." 

Rabbi A. S. Isaacs (New York). 



56 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

APRIL FOURTEENTH. 

1755 " The Congress of Alexandria," consisting of five Colonial governors, 
convened : Shirley of Massachusetts ; Delancy of New York ; Morris of Pennsyl- 
vania ; Sharp of Maryland ; Dinwiddle of Virginia. General Braddock and Cap- 
tain Kepple appeared before the august body ; also Colonel Washington. This 
young officer made a fine impression ; he was not entirely unknown, they having 
seen the journal of his mission to Fort le Boeuf in the autumn of 1753. 

1789 Charles Thomson, secretary of Congress, delivered to Washington 
at Mount Vernon the following letter from President John Langdon : " I have the 
honor to transmit to your Excellency the information of your unanimous election 
to the office of President of the United States of America. Suffer me su" to indulge 
the hope that so auspicious a mark of public confidence will meet with youi' ap- 
probation, and be considered as a pledge of the affection and support you are to 
expect from a free and enlightened people." In response General Washington 
said to Secretary Thomson : " I have been accustomed to pay so much respect to 
the opinion of my fellow citizens, that the knowledge of their having given their 
unanimous suffrages in my favor scarcely leaves me the alternative for an option. 
I will be ready to accompany you the day after to-morrow." 



" Sir : Give me leave to pray your attention with his Lordship in favor of Col. George Wash- 
ington, who I will venture to say is a very deserving gentleman, and has from the first com- 
manded the forces of this dominion. Gen. Braddock thought so highly of him he made him his 
aid, and if he had survived, I believe would have provided handsomely for him in the Regulars. 
He is a person much beloved here, and has undergone many hardships in the servdee, and I really 
think he has just merit." Gov. Dinwiddle to Gen. Abercronibie. 

APRIL FIFTEENTH. 

1776 General Washington informed Congress of his retui'n from Boston, 
and that at the various points — Providence, Norwich, and New London — he had 
stopped to expedite embarkation of troops. The army moved in three divisions 
to these points, and was then taken to New York by water. The General found 
this post in fine condition, and thanked both officers and soldiers " for the many 
Works of Defense which had been so expeditiously erected." 

1779 Washington wrote to John Jay in confidence, and, with a freedom he 
did not often indulge in even with trusted friends, said : ''I discovered very early 
in the war symptoms of coldness and constraint in General Gates' behaviour to 
me. These increased as he rose into greater consequence. When I find that 
this gentleman does not scruple to take the most unfair advantage of me, I am 
under a necessity of explaining his conduct to justify my own. I am, however, 
uneasy, as General G. has endeavored to impress Congress with an unfavorable 
idea of me." 



"I will only add, if Washington was not a Christian, he was more like one than any man of 
the same description whose life has hitherto been recorded. From other great men he was dis- 
tinguished by an exemption from favoritism. No man ever so engrossed his attention as to be 
safe, for a moment, from a deserved reproof or censure, nor was a man ever so distrusted by him, 
as, on that account, to fail of receiving from him whatever applause his services or merit could 
claim. Hence his friends feared and his enemies respected him." 

Timothy Dwight, D. D., LL. D., President of Yale. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY 57 

APRIL SIXTEENTH. 

1781 The Commander-in-cliief said regarding the exchange of G-eneral Bur- 
goyne, then in Europe on parole : '' His death would deprive us in exchanges of 
the value of 1040 soldiers. If the captivity of President Hemy Laiu-ens in the 
Tower of London, is not relaxed, Burgoyne shall at once be recalled." Mr. 
Laurens was compelled to pay rent for his cells, furnish his own food, fuel, and 
candles, and the wages for his two wardens ; at the last he rebelled, saying it 
was enough to provoke a man to exchange his lodgings. 

1789 George Washington, accompanied by Secretary Thomson and a modest 
domestic retinue, started for the seat of G-overnment. He thus records his emo- 
tions : ''About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and 
to domestic felicity, with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensa- 
tions than I have words to express, set out for New York, in company with Mr. 
Thomson and Colonel Humphries; with the best disposition to render service 
to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its expec- 
tations." Washington's Diary. 



"Washington the warrior and the legislator ! In war, contending by the wager of battle for 
the independence of his country and for the freedom of the human race ; ' ever manifesting 
amidst its horrors, by precept and example, his reverence for the laws of peace and for the 
tenderest sympathies of humanity; in peace, soothing the ferocious spirit of discord arnong his 
countrymen into harmony and union ; and giving to that very sword, now presented to his coun- 
try, a charm more potent than that attributed in ancient times to the lyre of Orpheus." 

John Quincy Adams (Massachusetts). 

APRIL SEVENTEENTH. 

1775 Colonel Washington spent the day at Alexandi-ia, Va , drilling the 
" Independent Companies." Neighbors, friends, relatives, " The Blues," his spe- 
cial command, went to the field and were the military escort at his funeral. 

1777 Lord North's "Conciliatory Bills" were circirlated in camp at VaUey 
Forge. These " Specious allurements of peace," as the Commander-in-chief called 
them, were a severe test to the patriotism of the suffering army ; but one which, 
to their credit, they withstood manfully. 

1770 The journey of the President-elect was a triumphal march. Within 
a mile of his own gates he was met by a delegation of friends and neighbors 
from Alexandria, who escorted him until relieved, upon the banks of the Poto- 
mac, by a similar one from Georgetown, who were in turn relieved by an escort 
from Baltimore, and thus the route was covered until he entered the first capital. 



" WASHINGTON, ' ' WASHINGTON, 

The Brave, The Wise, The Good ; The Hero, The Patriot, The Christian; 

WASHINGTON, The Father of Nations, The Friend of Mankind ; 

Supreme in War, in Council, and in Peace. who, 

WASHINGTON, When he had won all, renounced all, 

Valiant Discreet Confident and sought, 

without without without In the Bosom of his Family and of Nature, 

Ambition ; Fear ; Presumption ; Retirement, 

WASHINGTON, And, in the Hope of Religion, 

In Disaster, Calm ; In Success, Moderate, In All, Immortality." 

himself. -^non. 



58 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

APRIL EIGHTEENTH. 

1760 " Righted up all my Fencing. Planted other pine trees in the fenc'd 
place at the corner of the garden the first being broke, and much hurt by crea- 
tures. Got my cloaths &c packed up for my jom-ney to Williamsburg, to- 
morrow." Washington's Diary. 

1776 General Washington, much gi-atified by the prompt appreciation ex- 
hibited in the resolution of Congress, March 25th, wrote to President Hancock 
from New York: "The medal, intended to be presented to me by your honorable 
body, I shall carefully preserve as a memorial of their regard." 

1783 " The Commander-in-chief orders the cessation of hostiUties between 
the United States and the King of Great Britain to be publicly proclaimed to- 
morrow at twelve at the New Building ; and that the Proclamation, which will 
be communicated herewith, be read tomorrow evening at the head of every 
regiment and corps of the army ; after which the chaplains with the several 
brigades will render thanks to Almighty God for all His mercies, particularly 
for His over-ruling the wrath of man to His glory and causing the rage of war 
to cease among the nations." Orderly Booh {Neivhnrg). 



" Washington was never dramatic, but on gi-eat occasions he not only rose to the full ideal 
of the event; he became himself the event. No man ever stood for so much to his country 
and to mankind as George Washington. Hamilton, Jefferson, and Adams, Madison and Jay 
each represented some of the elements which formed the Union; — Washington embodied them 
all." Chauncey Mitcliell Depew, LL. D. {New York). 

APRIL NINETEENTH. 

1756 Colonel Washington appealed to Lord Fairfax for militia to defend 
Fort Edwards, " lest the party of soldiers and inhabitants fall a sacrifice to the 
Indians." Two days later he sent an express to Governor Dinwiddle to hurry 
up relief, provisions, and powder. The frontier men had driven their cattle 
toward the interior and gathered their women and children into the fort. 

1783 Eight years from the fii'st shock of arms at Lexington, the Com- 
mander-in-chief issued the Proclamation of Congress ordering cessation of hos- 
tilities. The news was received with huzzas, followed by a prayer ; to the 
accompaniment of the band the army sang the anthem " Independence." For 
the evening celebration the regiments were ordered to bring in timbers from 
ten to thirty feet long to form a frame for fireworks over the New Building. 
Combustibles collected on the summit of Beacon, Cro' Nest and Storm King, for 
the purpose of heralding the approach of the enemy, were now to be used in the 
celebration of peace. Amidst this rejoicing Washington left for Ringwood, N. J., 
to arrange with the Secretary of War plans for the exchange of prisoners, so that 
the more imposing celebration was reserved for the city of New York. 



" The States, O Lord, with songs of praise, "And all the Continent shall sing 

Shall in thy strength rejoice, Down with this earthly King; 

And blest with thy salvation raise No King but God, 

To Heaven their cheerful voice. No King but God." 

'^'^ Independence^^ {Billings, Conn., 1783). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 59 



APRIL TWENTIETH. 



1778 The Commander-in-chief sent a circular to the general ofl&cers in camp 
proposing three plans for the summer campaign : *' To recover Philadelphia, 
attack New York, or to keep the army in -4 state of security, to cover the country 
and our magazines, and be prepared for the future motions of the enemy," The 
of&cers sent a written reply which differed widely in opinion. General Charles 
Lee ari'ived the previous evening at Valley Forge. Washington, who had been 
distressed at his captivity, received him like a brother, and gave him a room at 
headquarters. All the music in the camp was ordered out, and the generals of 
divisions were invited to a dinner in his honor. 

1780 General Washington interested and entertained his guests, the French 
minister, Marquis de la Luzerne, and a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan Murilles, 
at Morristown, by taking them to a point, where they had a distant view of the 
enemy s position, on New York and Staten Island. 

1789 The President-elect was met at the Pennsylvania line by a large civil 
and military cavalcade, and escorted to Philadelphia. He was entertained by 
the corporation at a magnificent banquet given at the '^ City Tavern " ; and re- 
ceived everv assui"ance of affection. 



"I know of no historic character concerning whom the verdict of humanity is so unanimous 
as it is concerning George Washington. With the exception of Thomas Carlyle I cannot recall 
the name of any writer of consequence who has dissented from this verdict." 

Hjalmar Ejortk Boyesen. 

APRIL TWENTY-FIRST. 

1778 Commenting on Lord North's speech and " Conciliatoiy Bills," in a let- 
ter to John Banister, delegate in Congress then sitting at York, Pa., Washing- 
ton wrote : "Nothing short of Independence can possibly do. A Peace on other 
terms would, if I may be allowed the expression, be a Peace of war. The inju- 
ries we have received from the British nation were so unprovoked, and have 
been so great and so many, that they can never be forgotten. . . . France, by 
her supplies, has saved us from the yoke thus far ; and a mse and virtuous per- 
severence would, and I trust mil, free us entirely." 

1789 This day Washington reached Trenton, N. J., where twelve years be- 
fore he had fought one of the most sanguinary and important battles of the 
war. On the bridge he was met by a delegation of young girls, who sang songs 
in his honor and strewed flowers in his pathway. A floral arch was erected 
over the bridge, bearing the legends : " December 26th, 1776," " The Defender 
of the Mothers will be the Protector of the Daughters." This scene has become 
a favorite theme for pen and pencil. 



" Welcome, mighty chief, once more, " Virgins fair and matrons grave, 

Welcome to this grateful shore, Those thy conquering arm did save, 

Now no mercenary foe Build for thee triimiphal bowers. 

Aims again the fatal blow. Strew ye fair his way with flowers, 

Aims at thee the fatal blow. Strew your hero's way with flowers." 

Eichard Howell {Governor of New Jersey). 
Bridge at Trenton, sung April, 1789. 



GO 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



APRIL TWENTY-SECOND. 

1756 Colonel \Vasliinj):toii appealed for help from the merchants of Fred- 
ericksbnrii', and, in applyinij- to Govt'rnor Dinwiddle to make better ju'ovisions to 
defend the f'-outier, wrote: "The supplicatinji,' tears of the women, and moving 
petitions from the men, melt me into sueh deadly sorrow, that I solemnly de- 
elare, if I know my own mind, I eonld offer myself a willing- sacrifice to the 
hnteherinu; enemy, provided that wonld eontribnte to the people's ease." 

1778 Congress set apart this day for fasting, hnmiliation, and prayer. The 
fasting observed by the poor soldiers at Valley Forge, who, to qnote their Com- 
mander-in-chief, " were deeply involvcMl in rags," was little less than a satire, a 
satire that bronght tears to the eyes of numy wives and mothers. 

1793 From Philadelphia, President Washington issned a Proclamation of 
Nentrality between the United States and the Enropean powers in conflict. 
The Cabinet nnaiiimonsly agi'eed to receive a minister from the Repnblic of 
France, thns sympathizing with all efforts for self-government, even that which 
had wantonly sacrificed snch friends of liberty as D'Estaing, Chastellnx, and others 
well beloved in America. 



"In the days that tried men's souls, when danger and death were at the door, and difficul- 
ties pressed on every side, Washington, born to ooniuiand, to ride on the whirlwind and direct 
the storm, discovered to the astonished world tlint in the wilds of America had been raised a 
hero to eclipse in glory the Alexanders of Greece, the Ctesars of Rome, and the Hampdens of 
Britain ; unrivalled in talents and equal to the mighty task of working out the salvation of his 
country." Captain Samuel IVhite {Xcw York), 1800. 

APRIL TWENTY-THIRD. 

1755 Colonel Washington left Mount Vernon to ioin General Braddock at 
Fredericktown. Before starting he wrote to Hon. William Fairfax, then a 
member of the Hoitse of Bm*gesses, of having- met the Colonial governors in 
^Vlexandria, and "being- well received by them, especially Mr. Shirley, whose 
chai-acter and appearance have perfectly charmed me, as I think his every word 
and action discover in him the gentleman politician." 

1779 From Middlebrook, Washington wrote to the president of Congress: 
"Is there anything doing, or that can be done to restore the credit of our 
money! The depreciation of it has got to so alarming a ])oint, that a wagon 
load of money will scarcely purchase a wagon load of provisions." 

1789 In a handsome barge presented by the citizens. General Washington 
reached New York from Elizabethtown, and the city welcomed him as no hero 
of modern times had been receivinl. Accompanied by the joint committees 
appointed by Congress to attend him, he dined with Governor Clinton. 



"Thriee welcome to this shore, 
Our loader now no more, 

But ruler thou. 
Oh, truly good and great! 
Ijong live to glad our State, 
^Vhere countless honors wait 

To deck thy brow. 



"Hush'd be the din of arms; 
Henceforth the olive's charms 

Shall war preclude. 
These shores a head shall own 
Unsullied by a thronOj 
Our much-lov'd Washington, 
The great, the good ! " 

Samuel Low {Xew York), 1789. 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. Gl 



APRIL TWENTY-FOURTH. 



1776 Colouel Wasliiugton, from Fairfax County, advertised, offering forty 
dollars reward for the capture and return of two convict men-servants, warninjj 
all vessels against receiving them. Convict labor was largely depended upon, 
especially for bricklayers, masons, carpenters, shoemakers, etc. An indenture 
covering seven years for " one Transport " was found in the Washington papers. 

1780 *' At Morristown a field of parade lacing prepared under the direction 
of Baron Steuben, four battalions of our army were presented for review, by the 
French Minister, attended by his Excellency and our General officers." In the 
evening the Marquis de la Luzerne, accompanied by General and Mrs. Washington, 1 
attended a l)all given in his honor by the principal officers. The Spanisli nol)le- 
man Don Juan Murilles was not present, being alarmingly ill with pulmonary 
fever at headcpiarters. 

1791 President Washington, after a dusty and fatiguing drive from New- 
Berne, arrived at Wilmington, N. C. Here he was annoyed to find " that the 
Census in this state has been inaccurately and shamefully taken by the Mar- 
shall's deputies." 

" So just, so wise, so beneficial, so far above the tone of vulgar heroes was the Father of our 
Country, that but a small proportion of what is interesting in him can be given of him in any 
book. His praise is everywhere : he has no competitors, he stands alone. . . . Let us bless 
God that America, having produced one such son, may bring forth others like him, when the 
day of trial shall come, as it may come even to us, favored as we are above all the nations of 
the earth. There is more hope, not less, of another Washington, from having had the first." 

Caroline Matilda Kirkland {Massachusetts). 

APRIL TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1785 General Washington wrote from Mount Vernon a strong testimonial 
upon the patriotism, generosity, and efficiency of Christopher Ludwick, Baker- 
General of the United States. This office was created ''to rectify all abuse in 
the article of bread." His commission from Congress was dated May 3, 1777, 
and was held to the close of the war. He was a great sufferer, financially, and 
became negligent through sacrifices for the patriot cause, but was wont to say 
that this letter from his commander consoled him for all losses. 

1788 General Washington wrote from Mount Vernon congratulating the 
Marquis de Chastellux upon his approaching marriage, and said : " It is quite good 
enough for you. Now you are well served for coming to fight in favor of the 
American rebels, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean : by catching that terri- 
ble contagion Domestic Felicity. While you have been making love, under the 
banner of Hymen, the great Personages in the North have been making war, 
under the infatuation of Mars. Now, I humbly conceive, you have had much 
the best and wisest of the bargain. For certainly it is more consonant to all the 
principles of reason and religion to replenish the earth with inhabitants, rather 
than to depopulate it by killing those already in existence." 



''Washington 
Doth know no other language than the one 
We speak; and never did an English tongue 
Give voice unto a larger, wiser mind." 

George Henry Calvert {Maryland). 



62 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

APRIL TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1760 " Visited all the Estates, and my own quarters about Williamsburg, 
found these also in pretty good forwardness. Keceiv'd letters from Winchester, 
informing me that the small pox had got among my quarters in Frederick ; de- 
termin'd therefore to leave town as soon as possible and proceed up to them." 
Washington's Diary. 

1763 Colonel Washington wrote to his Tailor, Old Fish Street, London : " Be 
pleased to send me a genteele sute of cloaths, made of superfine broad cloth, 
handsomely chosen : — I should have enclosed you my measure, but, in a general 
way, they are so badly taken here that I am convinced it would be of little ser- 
vice ; I would have you therefore, take measure of a gentleman who wears well 
made cloaths of the following size, to wit : Six feet high, and proportionately 
made ; if anything, rather slender than thick for a person of that heighth, with 
pretty long arms and thighs." 

1793 To the Earl of Buchan, the President said : " I take the liberty of 
sending you the plan of a new city, situated about the center of the Union of 
these States, which is designated for the permanent seat of the government. 
We are at this moment far advanced in extending the inland navigation of the 
River Potomac, on which it stands, and the branches thereof, through a tract of 
as rich country for hundreds of miles as any in the world." 



" I recommend the constant remembrance of the moral and political maxims conveyed to its 
citizens by the Father and Founder of the United States." Earl Buchan (Scotland). 

APRIL TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1782 The Commander-in-chief urged upon the Secretary of War the enlist- 
ment into our service of German prisoners, saying, " I am convinced that by 
such an incorporation they will make exceedingly cheap and valuable recruits, 
and being able-bodied and disciplined will give a strength and solidity to our 
regiments." Through the influence of Christopher Ludwig a number of Hes- 
sians had become ardent Americans. 

1787 General Washington was called to Fredericksburg, Va., by the alarm- 
ing illness of his mother and sister. He had arranged to start for Philadelphia 
to attend the Constitutional Convention, proposing to arrive in time to preside 
at the general meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati. Of this society he said 
to General Knox : " That the design of the institution was pure I have not a par- 
ticle of doubt ; that it may be so still is perhaps equally unquestionable." 

1789 The committee of both Houses of Congress, in New York, reported 
that the inaugural oath would be administered to George Washington in the 
outer gallery, adjoining the senate-chamber. Congress also resolved, "That after 
the oath shall have been administered to the President, he, attended by the Vice- 
President and the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, pro- 
ceed to St. Paul's chapel to hear divine service, to be performed by the Chaplain 
of Congress already appointed." 



'George Washington, the highest human personation of justice and benevolence." 

William Henry Seward {Neiv York). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 63 

APRIL TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1777 The Commander-in-chief wi*ote to General McDougall deploring the 
disaster at Danbury, and the fall of the gallant General Wooster at the head of 
his brave militia at Ridgefleld. This engagement was one of the five battles of 
the yeomanry who went from their plows to the field : King's Mountain, Ridge- 
field, Oriskany, Bunker Hill, Lexington ; where " the embattled farmers stood, 
and fired the shot heard round the world." 

1782 General Washington, writing to the MarcLuis de la Luzerne, said : 
" Permit me, Sir, to express the high sense I have of the honor you have done 
me in communicating the favorable opinion entertained of my conduct by the 
Court and nation of France, and to acknowledge my obligations to those ofi&cers, 
who have inspired these sentiments." 

1788 Maryland adopted the Federal Constitution. 

1789 The programme for the inaugui*al ceremonies of George Washington 
was officially reported, — a broadside printed upon foolscap paper and issued the 
following morning. New York was crowded with people from all parts of the 
countiy to witness the great event. 



" I place Washington in the first rank among men whom it is the world's duty to honor. Ho 
does not belong to you alone, he belongs to the whole of mankind. If he has not, in the same 
degree as Napoleon, the prestige that genius lends, he has certainly that which is incomparably 
superior, and which emanates from disinterestedness, love of country, and fidelity to principle. 
America lives through Washington." Alfred Joseph Naquet, Senateur (France). 

APRIL TWENTY-NINTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, from headquarters. New York, forbade all 
intercourse or correspondence with ships of war and other vessels belonging to 
or in the service of the King of Great Britain. He "WTote to his brother, John 
Aug-ustine Washington, the same date : " Mrs. Washington is still here, and talks 
of taking the small-pox, but I doubt her resolution." 

1790 In his diary Washington notes : " Fixed with the Secretary of State on 
the present which (according to the custom of nations) should be made to the 
Diplomatic Characters when they return from their employment in this country — 
and this was a gold medal suspended to a gold chain — in ordinary to be of the 
value of about 120 or 130 guineas." Two of these medals, executed by Dupre, 
were presented officially — one to the Marquis dela Luzerne and one to Count de 
Moustier. The dies were lost at sea, but were reproduced from a wax impression, 
furnished by a collector on the American Centennial, by Dr. Linderman, director of 
the mint. The revival and use of this medal as originally proposed, was suggested 
and strongly urged upon senators and members, but never came before Congress. 

1791 The President, accompanied by General Moultrie and Colonel William 
Washington, passed the night at the home of Mr. Rutledge. He found great 
delight in the beauty of the rice-fields. The following morning he left for 
Georgetown, S. C, where, fourteen years before, Lafayette and suite had landed 
in America. 



" Washington r^unit par un rare assemblage, les talens du guerrier, et les vertus du sage." 

Voltaire, Washington medal (Paris). 



64 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

APRIL THIRTIETH. 

1780 General Washington informed the Governor of Cnba, Don Diego Na- 
varro, of the death of Don Juan Murilles, a Spanish nobleman, who died on the 
28th, of lung-fever, while his guest at Morristown. Every honor was accorded 
this distinguished stranger. The order was issued " that all officers who can be 
free from duty are expected to attend his funeral." The Marquis de la Luzerne, 
the Commander-in-chief and his generals walked by the bier as chief mourners. 
The united display of military and church ceremonies made of this funeral one 
of the most magnificent occasions that have ever occm-red in America. 

1781 From New Windsor the General wrote to Lund Washington upon hear- 
ing that some British troops had landed at Mount Vernon, and that to save the 
mansion he had supplied them with meat. He said : " I am very sorry of your loss, 
I am a little sorry to hear of my own ; but, that which gives me most concern, is, 
that you should go on board the enemies vessels, and furnish them with refresh- 
ments. It would have been a less painful circumstance to me to have heard, that 
in consequence of your non compliance to their request they had burnt the house 
and laid the plantation in ruins." 

1789 In the presence of an immense assemblage of American citizens and 
representatives of foreign governments, the oath as first executive officer of the 
United States of America was administered to George Washington by Chancellor 
Livingston, on the balcony of Federal Hall, in the city of New York. At the 
conclusion of his inaugural addi-ess in the senate-chamber, the President, Vice- 
President, and Congress, in pursuance of resolution, proceeded on foot to St. 
Paul's Church, where Bishop Provoost preached. The city of New York celebrated 
the centenary of this event with a magnificence worthy of its importance, repro- 
ducing, as far as possible, the scenes of the day they memorialized. 



"He addressed the two Houses in the senate-chamber; it was a very touching scene, and 
quite of a solemn kind. His aspect grave, almost to sadness; his modesty, actually shaking; 
his voice deep, a little tremulous, and so low as to call for close attention ; added to the series of 
objects presented to the mind, and overwhelming it, produced emotions of the most affecting 
kind upon the members." Fisher Ames {Massachusetts), April 30, 1789. 




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MAY FIRST. 

1778 General Washington received tlie first intelligence of the signing of the 
French Alliance Treaty, from Simeon Deane, who landed at Falmouth from 
the frigate La Sensible, bearing despatches to the Continental Congress from 
the French king. Congress was in session at Yorktown, Pa., but Mr. Deane 
sent a messenger from Bethlehem to Valley Forge, to relieve the anxiety of the 
Commander-in-chief. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief this day at New Windsor began " A Concise 
Journal of Military Transactions," which valuable manuscript is in the archives 
of the Department of State. In the preface he says : " Instead of having magazines 
filled with provisions, we have a scanty pittance scattered here and there in the 
different States. Instead of having om* arsenals well supplied with military 
stores, they are poorly provided, and the workmen all leaving them," etc. 

1785 " To dinner Mr. Pine, a pretty eminent portrait and historical painter 
arrived in order to take my pictm-e from the life and place it in the historical 
pieces he was about to di'aw. This gentleman stands in good estimation as a 
painter in England comes recommended to me from Col. Faii'fax, Mr. Morris, 
Gov. Dickinson, Mr. Hopkinson and others." Washington's Diary. 

1792 President Washington wrote to the Earl of Buchan that his portrait, 
which that nobleman had sent the artist Archibald Robertson to America to 
paint, had been forwarded to Dryburg Abbey. Of the " Wallace Box " he said : 
" I accept with sensibility and satisfaction, the significant present of the box ; I 
will however ask, that you will exempt me from a compliance with the request 
relating to its eventual destination." That nobleman requested that Washington 
should bequeath it to the most exemplary American. The box was made of the 
oak that sheltered William Wallace after the battle of Falkirk, and in his will 
Washington returned it to the donor. 



"Washington's enthusiastic welcome to the Presidential chair by the people of all classes, 
without any division of interest, reads in this age like a poem ; yet he was able to meet it with 
unruffled composure. He had come to the front when there were an ocean of problems to 
solve — of forms and ceremonies to be adjusted. But industry was one of his cardinal virtues, 
and he did not seek to be afflicted with waste moments. His personal influence tied as with a 
knot of steel the conflicting forces together. He was dignified even to a lofty reserve, while at 
the same time his irresistible magnetism disproves the notion that he was cold and unsym- 
pathetic. His breeding was that of a gentleman ; he was fond of society, conversed well, 
enjoyed humor in a quiet way, and was sensitive to the beauty and open to the appeal of a 
good story." Martha J. Lamb {New York). 

5 65 



66 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



MAY SECOND. 



1779 There was a grand review of the army at Middlebrook, in honor of 
the French minister, Monsieur Gerard, and Don Juan Murilles. Mrs. Wash- 
ington, Mrs. Knox, and Mrs. Greene, with an assemblage of distinguished guests, 
were upon a platform. The Commander-in-chief and suite, division generals 
and their suites, formed a group. Colonel Lee and his cavalry won great ap- 
plause by theu' evolutions. The French minister's visit to camp was for the 
purpose of consulting the Commander-in-chief in respect to the movements of 
the French fleet under Count d'Estaing. 

1788 Washington expressed to John Ettwein, a Moravian clergyman, his ap- 
proval of the work being done among the aborigines by the Society of Beth- 
lehem, and thanked him for a pamphlet by Count Zinzendorf, upon "The 
Traditions, Customs, and Language of the Indians." This is one of the most 
valuable as well as one of the earliest life-studies of the race, and is given with 
the strength and simplicity peculiar to this remarkable man. 

1791 The President arrived in Charleston, and notes in his diary: ''Was re- 
ceived in a 12 oared barge rowed by 12 American Captains of Ships, most 
elegantly dressed. There were a gi^eat number of other Boats with Gentlemen 
and ladies in them ; and two boats with Music." 



" His memory will ever be dear to the French, nation, as to all freemen in both the Old and 
New Worlds, and especially to the soldiers of France, who, like him and the American soldiers, 
fight for equality and liberty." Napoleon (France). 

MAY THIRD. 

1782 Washington announced to the Commander-in-chief of the British army 
that unless the murderers of Captain Joshua Huddy, of the New Jersey State 
Troops, be yielded up, that he would certainly find means to retaUate. The 
same month lots were drawn among the prisoners, and Captain Asgill, a brilliant 
young ofl&cer, drew the fatal number, which placed him under sentence of death. 
His execution was delayed, and Congi'ess finally pardoned him. 

1783 Major-General Heaf-th, in his invaluable Memoirs, thus records an im- 
portant event: "General Washington and Governor Clinton with their suites 
went down the river to Dobbs Ferry to meet General Sir Guy Carleton. Four 
companies of hght infantry had marched for that place to do the duty of guards. 
Sir Guy was to come up the river in a frigate." 

1791 " Breakfasted with Mrs. Rutledge (the Lady of the Chief Justice of the 
State who was on the Circuits) and dinetf with the Citizens at a pubhc dinner, 
given by them at the Exchange. Was visited about 2 o'clock, by a great num- 
ber of the most respectable ladies of Charleston — the first honor of the kind I 
had ever experienced and it was as flattering as it was singular." Washington's 
Diary. 



"As the military leader of a political revolution, as the ruler of a free, and the Father of a 
great people, he appears stamped with the character of absolute perfection. In the progress of 
civilization and Christianity, war, with all its works, will be done away. Its glories and its hor- 
rors, will be known only in history; but in those happy days Washington will still be found 
worthy the admiration of mankind." Charles Wentworth Vphani, D. D. {Maine). 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 67 



MAY FOURTH. 



1758 Colonel Washington noted in his account-book buying a ring for_^ix- 
teen shillings, presumably his engagement-ring; for on the 24th of this montli 
~ e left Fort Loudoun to make his second visit to Mrs. Martha Dandridge Custis, 
at which time they became engaged. 

1771 Colonel Washington in his diary gives a glimpse of life at the old 
capital of Virginia. "Dined at Mrs. Campbells (paid for Club and Dinner) went 
to Eltham with Colonels Basset and Lewis. Dined at the Speakers and went 
to the play, after w'ch drank a bowl or two of Punch at Mrs. Campbell's." Until 
the very outbreak of the war for independence, the most cordial and confidential 
relations existed between Washington and the Governors and other officials of the 
Old Dominion. 

1775 Colonel Washington^ accompanied by Benjamin Harrison, started at 
sunrise, on horseback, from Mount Vernon, to attend the second Continental Con- 
gress, convened at Philadelphia. This was the last time he saw Mount Vernon 
for more than six years. They reached Upper Marlborough that night, and were 
joined by Edmund Pendleton, also a delegate to the Congress. 



"America has furnished the character of Washington, and if our American Institutions had 
done nothing else, that alone, would entitle them to the respect of mankind. ... A century 
from the birth of Washington has changed the world. The country of Washington has been 
the theatre on which a great part of that change has been wrought, and Washington himself a 
principal agent by which it has been accomplished. His age and his country are equally full 
of wonders, and of both he is the chief." Daniel Webster (Massachusetts). 

MAY FIFTH. 

1778 At midnight a special messenger from Congi-ess arrived at Valley 
Forge to ofiftcially announce to the Commander-in-chief the ratification at Ver- 
sailles on February 6th of the French alliance. In reply, Washington wrote, 
urging "the importance of action on the part of Congress, as the English evidently 
intended to vigorously prosecute the war." Upon announcing the event to the 
army in the morning, Washington ordered a grand fete and jubilee. 

1779 From Middlebrook the Commander-in-chief inclosed to the president 
of Congress three New York papers. He said : " The last contains extracts from 
Lord North's speech, at opening the budget, which seems to breathe a vigorous 
prosecution of the war, I have thought appearances for some time past wore this 
complexion. While the government can procure money ; men will not be want- 
ing." At the solicitation of Washington, Congress made Baron Steuben inspec- 
tor-general of the army, with rank and pay of major-general. This brilliant 
nobleman left high honors in three kingdoms that he might come to America 
and di'aw his sword for liberty. 



" Washington was the first one to see the rising sun of coming ages. Unlike many others he 
did not wish to build up the future by using the past. He did not stop to loosen stones from 
monuments in ruins, to build with them the city of the promised land. For Washington's genius 
was composed of honesty and will power. Without his will power he would have relinquished 
three times the work of American independence. Without his honesty he would have instituted 
for his own benefit a short-lived monarchy instead of founding an indestructible republic." 

Arsene Houssaye (France). 



68 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



MAY SIXTH. 



1775 Colonel Washington gave his brother this charming picture of Brad- 
dock: "I have met with much complaisance in this family, especially from the 
General, whom I hope to please ■v\'itliout ceremonious attentions or difficulty ; for 
I may add : it cannot be done ivith them, as he uses and requires less ceremony 
than* you can easily conceive." Washington ha^dng lost three of his horses 
since "leaving Mount Yernon, he applied to his old friend Thomas, Lord Fairfax, 
of G-reenwav Court, for the loan of fortv or fiftv pounds, saving, '• I will gladlv 
pay yoiu- Lordship interest, beside many thanks." 

l'783 G-eneral Washington and G-eneral Sir Guy Carleton met in the Van 
Brugh Li^'iugston Mansion at Dobbs Ferry (Rochambeau's headquarters in 
1781-82). They arranged for the evacuation of New York and all other posts 
in the possession of the enemy, and at the same time agreed upon and settled 
the preliminaries for the depar'tiu-e of the hostile forces of his Britannic Majesty 
from the territory of the Government of the United States. 

1791 '• Dined with a large Company at the Governors & in the evening went 
to a Concert at the Exchange at well there were at least 400 ladies the number 
& appearance of wch exceeded an\i:hing of the kind I had ever seen. Yiewed 
the town on horseback by riding through most of the principal streets. Dined 
at Major Butler's and went to a Ball in the evening at the Governor's where 
there was a select Company of ladies." Washington'' s Diary. 



"General Wasliiagton is known to us. and President Washington. But George Washington 
is an unknown man." Hugh McMasters {Pennsylvania). 

MAY SEVENTH. 

1778 The Commander-in-chief, Generals Greene and Stirling, with their 
wives, attended thanksgi^-iug ser\ice of the Jersey Brigade at Yalley Forge. 
The General re\iewed the army, and with all of his officers dined in public ; 
bands playing; and each toast announced with cannon. Upon a signal given 
the army 'huzzahed, " Long Live the King of France ! Long live the friendly 
European powers ; and long hve the American States ! " Washington, upon 
retiring, repeated then* shouts, which was received with the wildest delight. He 
presented two of the three sets of epaulets and sword-knots sent Mm from 
France, one to General Arnold and one to General Lincoln. 

1789 The tu'st inaugural ball was given to President Washington by the 
citizens of Xew York at the De Lancey House in the Bowery, near Canal street. 
It was a gi-eat disappointment that Mrs. Washington, who was en route from 
Mount Yernon, had not ai'rived in time to be present. 

1791 Some difficulties ha\-ing arisen in regard to the boundary of the Fed- 
eral City, the President wi-ote to the commissioners : '• Will the gentlemen not 
recollect my observation that Pliiladelphia stood upon an area of three by two 
miles, and if the metropolis of one state occupied so much ground, what ought 
that of the United States to occupy ?" 



" The delight not only of his own nation but of all mankind. . . . The first in war was now 
to be the first in peace." " Eliza Morton Quincy {Massachusetts). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 69 

MAY EIGHTH. 

1778 General "Washington held a council of war at Valley Forge with the 
military committee instructed by Congress to urge an attack upon Philadelphia. 
He resisted their arguments, stating that his " men were not yet in condition for 
such service after their winter of cruel suffering." After discussion and grave 
deliberation, the committee accepted his views of the situation, and agreed that 
the interests and safety of the United States demanded he should continue on 
the defensive and await events. 

1780 A letter from Washington welcomed Lafayette upon his landing from 
France, ^' with all the joy the sincerest friendship could dictate." The Marquis 
arrived two days later at headquarters, — Mon'istown, — and remained four days 
in consultation with his Excellency. 

1783 The Commander-in-chief and Governor Clinton dined with Sir Guy 
Carleton on board the Greyhound in the Hudson, opposite Dobbs Ferry. They 
were received with a salute, and upon their departure, in recognition of General 
Washington's rank, seventeen guns were fired. " This was the first complimentary 
salute by Great Britain in honor of an of&cer of the United States ; and virtually 
the first salute to the nation." 



" The soldiers, jealous of his praises, feared even his silence ; never was a general better 
served and obeyed. More careful of his country's glory than his own, he risked nothing to 
chance. . . . How I love to imagine myself the French General (Eochambeau), equally idolized 
and hero of his army, saying as he sat at table near Washington, that he had never known what 
glory was nor a truly great man, until he became acquainted with him." 

Joseph Mandrillon ("Xe Spectateur Aniericain"). 

MAY NINTH. 

1779 From Middlebrook, General Washington wrote to Gouverneur Morris: 
" If the enemy have it in their power to press us hard this campaign, I know not 
what may be the consequences. Our Army as it now stands, is but little more 
than the skeleton of an army. . . . Providence has done, and I am persuaded it 
disposes to do, a great deal for us, but we are not to forget the fable of Jupiter 
and the countryman." 

1781 The Commander-in-chief made a careful estimate of the stores at West 
Point, and discovered that there was not meat enough for two full days' rations. 
He well said : '* Instead of having everything in readiness to take the field, we have 
nothing, and instead of having the prospect of a glorious offensive campaign 
before us, we have a bewildered and a gloomy defensive one." 

1787 Washington left in his chariot for Philadelphia, to attend the Constitu- 
tional Convention. " Crossed from Mount Vernon to Mr. Digges a little after sun- 
rise, and pursuing the rout by the way of Baltimore dined in Bladensburg, 
and lodged at Major Snowden's, when feeling very severely a violent headache I 
went to bed early." Washington's Diary. 



" Patient, watchful, provoked into no rashness, frightened into no delay, cautious in his ap- 
proach, bold and desperate in his onset, calm and collected in retreat, he moves at the head of 
his brave, but ill furnished and distracted army like a pillar of fire." 

Hev. Joel Tyler Headley {New York). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



MAY TENTH. 



1775 Colonel Washington was present at the convening of the second Con- 
tinental Congress at Philadelphia. Hon. John Adams, a member from Massa- 
ehnsetts Bay, wrote : " Colonel Washington appeared every day in his uniform, 
and his great experience and ability in military affairs was of much service to all." 

1782 General Washington received at Newburg from Su' Guy Carleton, who 
had only just returned from England, a communication inclosing the king's speech 
of March 4th, in favor of peace, and a copy of the bill, not yet passed by Parlia- 
ment, enabhng his Majesty to conclude a peace, or truce, with the revolted colonies 
in North America. The English general said : " In all events. Sir, it is with me to 
declare, that, if war must prevail I shall endeavor to render its miseries as Hght 
to the people of this continent as the circumstances of such a condition will pos- 
sibly permit." 

1789 The President gave a theater-party to about " 25 people of Eminence." 
Senator William Maclay, of Pennsylvania, was one of the number, and wrote a 
detailed account of the entertainment; rather a genial effort for this sensitive 
politician, who seemed imbued with the idea that courtesy extended to him was 
actuated by an unworthy motive ; especially at this time, on the eve of his effort 
to locate the permanent seat of government on the Susquehanna. 



" The true greatness of George "Washington is best exemplified in the greatness of this coun- 
try, which, as compared with all other nations, is the greatest show on earth." 

Phineas T. Barnum (Connecticut). 

MAY ELEVENTH. 

1754 Colonel Washington wrote : " Broke camp, and went on a rising ground 
where we halted to dry ourselves, for we had been obliged to ford a rapid where 
our shortest men had Water up to their Arm-pits. An express came in with let- 
ters acquainting us that Colonel Fry with a Detachment of more than 100 men 
was at Winchester, and was to set out in a few days to join us ; as also that Colonel 
Innes was marching with 350 men, raised in Carolina ; that it was expected 
Maryland would raise 200 men, and that Pennsylvania had raised 10,000 Pounds 
to pay the soldiers of other Colonies, as that Province could furnish no recruits ; 
and that Governor Shirley had sent 600 men to harass the French in Canada ; I 
hope that will give them some work to do, and will moderate their zeal in send- 
ing so many men to the Ohio." 

1780 The magnificence of the obsequies and official distinction accorded that 
grandee of Spain, Don Juan de Murilles, called forth a letter of thanks from 
Marquis de la Luzerne, to whom Washington repUed: "The attention and 
honors paid Monsieur Murilles on his death, were a tribute due his character and 
merit, and dictated by the sincere esteem which I always felt for him." As was 
the custom in his own country, the body was robed in court costume and exposed 
to the public view. 



"We were impatient to see the hero of liberty. . . . His dignified address, his simplicity of 
manners, and mild gravity, surpassed our expectations and won every heart." 

Count Dumas (France). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 71 

MAY TWELFTH. 

1778 The Commander-in-cliief, and the general officers at Valley Forge, 
signed the oath required by Congress : " I do acknowledge the United States of 
America to be Free, Independent and Sovereign States, and declare that the 
people thereof owe no allegiance or obedience to George the Third, King of G-reat 
Britain ; and I renounce, refuse, and abjure any allegiance or obedience to him ; 
and I do swear, that I will to the utmost of my power, support, maintain, and de- 
fend the said United States against the said King George the Third, and his heirs 
and successors, and his or their abettors, assistants and adherents and will serve 
the said United States, in the office of Commander in chief which I now hold with 
fidelity, according to the best of my skill and understanding." Washington re- 
ceived Ethan Allen at headquarters, and said of him : " I have been happy in a 
visit from Col. Allen. His fortitude and firmness seem to have placed him be- 
yond the reach of misfortune. There is an original something in him that com- 
mands admiration, and his long captivity and suffering have only served to 
increase, if possible, his enthusiastic zeal." 

1791 "In my way down the River I called upon Mrs. Green the widow of 
the deceased Genl. Green So asked her how she did. At this place my horses and 
Carnages were landed, and had 12 miles farther by Land to Savanna." Wasli- 
ington^s Diary. 

"I have a large acquaintance among the most valuable and exalted class of men; but you 
are the only human being for whom I ever felt an awful reverence. I sincerely pray God to 
grant a long and serene evening to a life so gloriously devoted to the universal happiness of the 
world." Lord ErsMne to Washington. 

MAY THIRTEENTH. 

1776 " The Guard of the Commander-in-chief" was organized at New York. 
He said it must be composed entirely of Americans." Their uniforms were blue 
coats with white facings, white waistcoats and breeches, black half gaiters, a 
cocked hat with a blue and white feather ; they carried muskets and side arms ; 
theu' motto was " conquer or die." Caleb Gibbs of Rhode Island was their fii'st 
chief, with the title of Captain Commandant. 

1783 At Vei-planck House, Fishkill, headquarters of Baron Steuben, the 
Society of the Cincinnati was formed. This order gi'ew out of a suggestion 
from General Knox, approved by the Commander-in-chief. The sole purpose of 
the organization was to encoui*age, cherish, and pei"petuate friendship between 
the officers, foreign and native. 

1787 General Washington arrived in Philadelphia ; his old escort, " The City <> 
Light Horse," met him at the Schuylkill. He wrote to his wife: "Alighted ''^ 
through a crowd at Mrs. House's, but being again warmly and kindly pressed 
by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Morris to lodge with them, I did so and had my baggage 
removed thither. Waited on Dr. Franklin as soon as I got to town. On my ar- 
rival the bells were chimed." 

" I take this opportunity of returning my most sincere thanks to the Captain and to the gen- 
tlemen who compose the Troop, for the many escential services which they have rendered their 
country, and to me personally, during the course of this eampagne. Though composed of gen- 
tlemen of fortune, they have shown a noble example of discipline and subordination, and in sev- 
eral actions have shown a spirit and bravery which will ever do honor to them, and will ever 
be gratefully remembered by me." Washington to Captain Samuel Morris (1779). 



72 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MAY FOURTEENTH. 

1755 Colonel "Wasbington wrote from Cumberland to his younger brother: 
^' As wearing boots is quite the mode, and mine are in a declining state, I must 
beg the favor of you to procure me a pair, good and neat." In a note to Mrs. 
WiUiam Fairfax, of Belvoir, he explained why Mrs. Wardrope met with more re- 
spect than herself in the re\dew at Alexandria, Va. : " Nothing less, I assure you, 
than a present of a delicious cake and potted woodcock, which so affected the 
palate as to leave a deep impression on the hearts of all who tasted them. How 
could the General do otherwise than admire not only the charms, but the pohte- 
ness of this lady ? " 

1787 Washington met mth the Constitutional Convention in Independence 
Hall, Philadelphia — " The goodliest fellowship (of law-givers) whereof this world 
holds record." There were fifty-five delegates from the thirteen States, and they 
had been cautiously chosen, but the patent fact that they were not free from sec- 
tional bias, made many patriot hearts quake with fear as shown by the bon mot 
of Dr. Franklin, after the Constitution was signed, upon the carved sun on the 
President's chair. He, the man whose wit flashed forth to illuminate the rugged 
path of patriotism, said: ''In the vicissitudes of hope and fear, I was not able 
to teU if it were a rising or a setting sun. I now know it was a.rising sun." 



" It is true that "Washington was a Virginian, but he was also an American, and it was at the 
head, not of Virginia alone, but of armies composed of troops of each of the good Old Thirteen. 
Surrounded by councillors drawn together from all points of that infant confederacy, he won the 
meed of glory which places him at the head of the human race." Thomas Ritchie ( Virginia). 

MAY FIFTEENTH. 

1781 General Washington thanked President Ezra Stiles and Fellows of the 
University of Yale for the degree of Doctor of Laws. He added : " The polite 
manner in which you are pleased to request my acceptance of this distinguished 
mark of their favor demands my grateful acknowledgement." 

1791 The President notes on lea\ing Savannah : " After morning Service, 
and receiving a number of visits from the most respectable ladies of the place 
(as was the case yesterday), I set out for Augusta, Escorted bey'd the limits of 
the City, by most of the Gentlemen in it, and dining at Mulberry Grove, the Seat 
of Mrs. Greene, lodged at one Spencer's — distant 15 miles." 

1796 President Washington made an appeal to the Emperor of Austria for 
the release of Marquis de Lafayette, begging that he might be permitted to come 
to America " on such conditions and under such restrictions as youi* Majesty 
may think it expedient to prescribe." 



"Washington was a wonderful and most majestic man — so equal and measured in all his 
ways, that his greatness and genius were to be seen and felt only in its general results. From 
his earliest manhood, when he led the British army to safety and refuge through the wild forest 
of Virginia, to his mature years, when the American colonies sought in him a commander-in- 
chief to maintain their independence and establish their constitutional form of government, he 
was the same immortal hero ; the synonym of courage and justice inspired with love for Almighty 
God and his fellow men." Robert M. McLane {Maryland). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY 73 



MAY SIXTEENTH. 



1776 Congress passed a resolution requiring General "Washington to appear 
before that body to consult in regard to " the present posture of affairs." Presi- 
dent Hancock in\'ited Wa.shington and his wife to be his guests while at Phila^ 
delphia ; but upon their an-ival from New York he was too ill to receive them. 

1780 The Commander-in-chief sent notifications to Governor Jefferson, of 
Virginia, and to Major-General Heath, at Boston, of the expected arrival of the 
French fleet, instructing each to pro\'ide pilots, in the event of being called upon, 
and " to have extreme caution lest the great, good news become known." 

1785 Washington wrote Francis Hopkinson, author of "Hail, Columbia," 
who had sent Robert Edge Pine to Mount Vernon to ask to paint his portrait : 
" In for a penny, in for a pound, is an old adage. I am so hackneyed to the 
touches of a paintei"'s pencil that I am now altogether at their beck, and sit like 
' Patience on a Monument,' while they are delineating the lines of my face. It is 
a proof, among many others, of what habit and custom may effect. At fir.st I 
was as impatient of the request, and as restive under the operation as a colt is of 
the saddle. The next time I submitted very reluctantly, but with less flouncing. 
Now no dray-horse moves more readily to the thill, than I to the painter's chair." 



" There is a natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, 
when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude ; and I reckon it among those kind of public 
blessings, which we do not immediately see, that God hath blessed Washington with uninter- 
rupted health, and given him a mind that can even flourish upon care." 

Thomas Paine (" Tlie American Crisis"). 

MAY SEVENTEENTH. 

1776 The General had announced the resolution of Congress that this day 
was to be observed in the army with "■ fasting, humiliation and prayer," and 
requested " all officers and soldiers to pay strict obedience to the orders of the 
Continental Congress; that by their unfeigned and pious observance of their 
religious duties, they may incline the Lord and Giver of Victory to prosper our 
arms." 

1781 General Washington arranged for a meeting at the Webb House, 
Wethersfield, Conn., with Count de Rochambeau and his son, the Viscount, who 
had returned from a mission to the court of Versailles, for the pui-pose of ask- 
ing relief for our soldiers. It was with the Hveliest satisfaction he learned " that 
Admiral Count de Grasse had cleared the harbor at Brest, with a strong squadron 
escorting a convoy of transports laden with supplies for the army." 

1784 President General Washington issued a circular letter embodpng the 
changes that should be made in the constitution of the Society of the Cincin- 
nati. He suggested to " Sti-ike out every sentence which has a political tendency, 
and admit no more honoraiy members." During this session Washington wrote 
a most fraternal letter to Rochambeau, in which he thanked him but declined to 
accept a sum of money subscribed by French officers to sustain the society. 



"To an unalterable tranquillity of mind be joins a most exact judgment ; and the utmost 
with which he has been reproached is a little tardiness in his determination, and even, in the 
execution of his decisions, when he has once made them." Prince de Broglie {^France). 



74 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



MAY EIGHTEENTH. 



1754 Lieutenant-Colonel Washington wrote Governor Dinwiddie from Great 
Crossing, Youghiogany : " I hope your Honor will order some Wampum be sent. 
Indeed we ought to have Spirit, and many other things of this sort, which is 
always expected of every Indian that brings a message, or good report. Also 
the chiefs, who visit and converse in council expect it." 

1760 " Set out in company with Mr. George Johnson. At Colchester was 
inform'd by Colo's Thornton and Chissel that the Assembly would be broke up 
before I cou'd get down. Turn'd back therefore and found Colo Fairfax and his 
family, and that lightning, which had attended a good deal of rain, had struck 
my quarter and near 10 Negroes in it, some shocked very bad but with letting 
blood they recovered." This entry in his diary, ten days before, explains delay 
in starting for Williamsburg: ''Set out for Frederick' to see my Negroes that 
lay ill of the small pox." He found his quarter in utmost distress. Several of 
the negroes had died, and the overseer was disabled with a broken leg. 

1789 The President received at the Executive Mansion the committee of the 
Senate, and replied to their address, concluding with the gracious sentence, " I 
readily engage with you in the pleasing task of attempting to make a nation 
happy." 

" I have from the beginning, and I hope I shall to the end, pursue to the utmost of my judg- 
ment and abilities, one steady line of conduct for the good of the great whole. This will under 
all circumstances, administer consolation to myself, however short I may fall in the expectation 
of others." Washington. 

MAY NINETEENTH. 

1747 To her brother, Joseph Ball, Esq., Barrister, Mary Washington natu- 
rally turned for advice, having been a member of his family in London, when a 
beautiful young gu-l. He rephed : '' Rather than put your son George in the 
English Navy, apprentice him to a Tinker." Not entering the Royal Navy was 
a disappointment to the young Virginian, whose ambition, it seems, was to follow 
the profession of his beloved brother Lawrence. 

1778 Washington ordered General Lafayette to command " a valuable de- 
tachment," and move between the Schuylkill and Delaware. He was attacked 
by General Grant with a greatly superior force, Sir Henry Clinton having 
planned the capture of the youthful commander. By a masterly retreat, La- 
fayette with his troops crossed the Schuylkill at Matson's Ford, and Washington 
said: " The Marquis by his own dexterity, or the enemy's want of it, disengaged 
himself in a very soldierlike manner." 

_ 1796 President Washington nominated Senator Rufus King, of New York, 
minister to the court of St. James, to succeed Thomas Pinckney, who, at his own 
request, had been recalled. Washington said : " There can be no doubt of his 
abilities, nor in my mind is there any of his fitness, but you know what has been 
said of his political sentiments with respect to another form of government." 



"No one who has not been in England, can have a just idea of the admiration expressed 
among all parties for General Washington. It is a common observation, that he is not only the 
most illustrious, but the most meritorious character that has yet appeared." 

Eufus King (New York, 1797). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 75 



MAY TWENTIETH. 



1752 Major Washington, yet a minor, wrote to William A. Fauntleroy, a 
relative of Miss Betsy Fauntleroy, saying, "I was taken with a violent pleurise 
which reduced me very low ; but propose as soon as I recover my strength, to 
wait on Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revocation of the former cruel sentence." 
Miss Betsy, " the Lowland Beauty," proved obdiu-ate, but was made immortal 
through the yoiithful passion of a great man. 

1754 Lieutenant-Colonel Washington embarked in a canoe with Lieuten- 
ant West, three soldiers, and one Indian guide, in an attempt to navigate the 
Youghiogany. He reported to the Governor that he found this turbulent stream 
unnavigable. He also said : " The Indian that accompanied me down the river, 
would go no f ui'ther than the Forks, till I promised him a ruffled shirt, (which I 
must take from my own), and a watch-coat." 

1791 At Augusta the President assured Governor Edmund Telfair, "I 
shall always retain a most pleasing remembrance of the polite and hospitable 
attentions which I have received in my tour through the state of Georgia, and 
during my stay at the residence of your government." 



"During the whole period of his life he was the thinking part of the nation. He was its 
mind ; it was his image and illustration. If we would classify and measure him, it must be with 
nations, not individuals. In all things admirable ; in all things to be imitated ; in some things 
scarce imitable and only to be admired." Bufus Wilmot Griswold (Vermont). 

MAY TWENTY-FIRST. 

1772 Colonel Washington wi-ote to Rev. Jonathan Boucher: "Inclination 
having yielded to Importunity, I am now contrary to all expectation, under the 
hands of Mr. Peale ; but in so grave, so sullen a mood, and now and then under 
the influence of Morpheus, when some critical strokes are making, that I fancy 
the skill of tliis Gentleman's Pencil, will be put to it, in describing to the World 
what manner of man I am. I have no doubt of Mr. Peale's meeting very good 
Incouragement in a tour to Williamsbui'g ; for having mentioned mm to some 
Gentlemen at our Coui-t they seem desu'ous of emplojdng him on his way down." 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, having placed Major-General Putnam in com- 
mand at New York, left for Philadelphia, in obedience to an order from Con- 
gress. He was accompanied by his wife ; and they tarried over night at Amboy, 
where Washington "viewed the ground," and decided what works would be 
proper for the defense of that point. 

1791 "Left Augusta about 6 o'clock & taking leave of the Governor & prin- 
cipal Gentlemen of the place at the bridge over Savanna River, where they had 
assembled for the pm'pose ; I proceeded in company with Col""- Hampton & Tay- 
lor & Mr. Lithgow, a Committee from Columbia." * Washington's Diary. 



"If we designate by 'Character' a combination of will and principle, Washington was a 
man of great character. . . . Washington loved his country as an upright patriot, but we recol- 
lect no case in which his patriotism dimmed his conscientiousness. . . . Washington never per- 
secuted ; he imprisoned no personal enemy ; and when he died, his hands, like those of Pericles, 
were unstained." Francis lAeber {Germany). 



76 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MAY TWENTY-SECOND. 

1782 To Colonel Lewis Nicola's suggestion that lie should take advantage of 
the discontent in the army and the dilatory action of Congress, and '' Assume the 
Crown of America," Washington sent a stern and indignant rebuke, concluding 
with, "Let me conjure you, if you have any regard for yoiu* country, concern for 
yourself, or posterity, or respect for me : to banish these thoughts from your 
mind, and never communicate a sentiment of the like nature." 

1794 "I learn with concern that yom- crops are still laboring under a 
drought, and most of them very much injured. At disappointments and losses 
which are the effects of providential acts, I never repine, because I am sure the 
alwise disposer of events knows better than we do, what is best for us, or what 
we deserve." Washington to his manager. 

1802 Martha Dandridge, widow of George Washington, died at Mount Ver- 
non. It is rare to find among representative women of the Old or New World, 
one who so faithfully and with such dignity stood beside a hero and became so 
unobtrusively a part of his life. 



" Because there was but one consenting voice "Conventional and trite — as if a man 

In the world's estimate of him in whom Should praise the sunshine and the air, and all 

Our Countrj''s fate was centred, and whose The enfolding elements of mortal life, 

hand And so the mighty name of Washington 

By wisdom and by valor guided, wrought Is the grand synonym of all we prize 

The freedom in whose light the nation lives — Of great and good in this wide Western World." 
Wherefore all praise of him has grown to be Christopher Pearse Cranch (Virginia). 

MAY TWENTY-THIRD. 

1756 Colonel Washington, from the frontier, wrote to Governor Dinwiddle : 
" It gave me infinite concern to find the Assembly had levied their troops until 
December only. By the time they shall have entered into the service, they wiU 
claim a discharge. To get the least smattering of the duty they cannot, and we 
find by experience, that our poor and ragged soldiers would kill the most likely 
militia in five days marching, so little are the latter acquainted with fatigue." 

1776 Congress, sitting in Philadelphia, appointed Benjamin Harrison, Rich- 
ard H. Lee, John Adams, James Wilson, and Edward Rutledge a committee to 
confer with Generals Washington, Gates, and Mifflin on " the most speedy and 
effectual means for supporting the American cause in Canada." 

1781 The Commander-in-chief and Count de Rochambeau determined to 
attack Sii' Henry Chnton at New York. During the few days at Wethersfield, 
Washington saw a great deal of his dear friend and patriotic adviser, Jonathan 
Trumbull. This record is made in his journal: " Count de Rochambeau set out 
on his retm-n to Newport, while I prepared and forwarded dispatches to the f out- 
New England States calling on them, in earnest and pointed terms, to compleat 
their Continental Battalions for the campaign." 

1788 South Carolina adopted the Federal Constitution. 



"What Englishman is there who is not proud of the once dreaded name of Washington." 

Dean Stanley (England). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 77 

MAY TWENTY-FOURTH. 

1774 The Vii'ginia House of Burgesses, of which Colonel Washington had 
been a member since 1758, learning the order of Parliament to close the port of 
Boston on the fii'st day of June, resolved : " That a day be set apart by this House 
as a day of hiuniliation and prayer, devoutly to implore the divine intervention 
for the heavy calamity that threatens their civil rights." A resolution was of- 
fered by Richard Henry Lee for a general congress of the colonies. These 
acts so incensed Governor Dunmore, that two days later he dissolved the House. 
This old Colonial hall had been a training-school of Virginia patriots. 

1779 The Commander-in-chief, from Middlebrook, wrote to the president of 
Congress : ^' The predatory war, which the enemy now seem resolved to carry on, 
will be very distressing. Little aid can be afforded from the army in its present 
situation, and the militia appear too ill provided with arms to defend themselves. 
How this can be remedied, and the army supplied, I know not." 

1791 The President, at Columbia, S. C, offered the seat on the Supreme 
Bench, made vacant by the resignation of John Rutledge, to Edmund Rutledge, 
and then to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney ; both of these distinguished, conscien- 
tious patriots declined that great honor. 



"Washington (1769) towered now on the threshold of an arena of danger, death, and glory 
from which he was to emerge in after years worn, stern and gray, but with such a halo of external 
fame about his lofty head, as was never before nor since accorded to man by the universal ac- 
claim of the civilized world." Daniel W. Voorhees (Indiana). 

MAY TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1787 A quorum being established, Robert Morris, in the absence of Benja- 
min Franklin, who was too feeble to brave a severe storm, nominated George 
Washington, of Virginia, and he was unanimously chosen " President of the Con- 
stitutional Convention," and conducted to the chair by Robert Morris of Penn- 
sylvania and John Rutledge of South Carolina. Perhaps no other man could 
have so controlled and held together those discordant elements. The convention 
was the great battle-field of sections ; and over every point there was a fierce con- 
test. When Washington took the chair, he said : " Let us raise a standard to f ; 
which the wise and honest can repaii" ; the event is in the hands of God." . ' 

1791 President Washington, at Camden, S. C, visited the grave of De Kalb, 
and to the citizens said : " Your grateful remembrance of that excellent friend and 
gallant officer, the Baron De Kalb, does honor to the goodness of your hearts. 
With your regrets I mingle mine for his loss, and to your praise I join the trib- 
ute of my esteem for his memory." The following day he made this entry: " Af- 
ter viewing the British works about Camden, I set out for Charlotte on my way, 
two miles from town, and examined the ground on wch. Genl. Green and Lord 
Rawden had their action (Hobkirk's Hill, April 25, 1781). . . . Six miles further 
on I came to the gi-ound where Genl. Gates and Lord CornwaUis had their en- 
gagement (August 16, 1782), wch. terminated so unfavorably for the former." 



"Men agree to honor Washington because in his life they think they have a demonstration 
that right is might." Edward Everett Hale (Massachusetts). 



78 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MAY TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1777 *' Let vice and immorality of every kind be discouraged as much as 
possible, and as a Chaplain is allowed to each regiment, see that the men regu- 
larly attend divine worship. Gaming of every kind is expressly forbidden, as 
being the foundation of evil and the cause of many a brave and gallant officer's 
ruiu. Games of exercise for amusement may not only be permitted but encour- 
aged." Washington'' s Orderly Booh {Morristown). 

1781 Washington received a notification from Hon. John Laurens, Paris, 
that 6,000,000 livres had been donated to the American cause, to be applied in 
part to the purchase of arms and clothes for the troops, and the balance to his 
order. This at once aroused the jealousy of Congress, or rather of that faction 
on the outlook for a grievance against the Commander-in-chief ; and might have 
resulted in embarrassment, but for the ready diplomacy of the Marquis de la 
Luzerne, who inserted " or to some other person." 

1785 En route to Annapolis, Bishop Francis Asbury, and Rev. Thomas Coxe, 
of the M. E. Church, dined at Mount Vernon by invitation. They asked Wash- 
ington if he thought it wise to sign a petition for the emancipation of slaves. 
He replied that it would not be proper for him, but added, " If the Maryland As- 
sembly discussed the matter; I will address a letter to that body on the subject, 
as I have always approved of it." 



" To give an opinion about Washington seems to me about like giving an opinion on Truth, 
or Honor, or Patriotism." Elizabeth Stuart Plielps Ward {Massachusetts). 

MAY TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1774 Colonel Washington was one of the eighty-nine burgesses who met at 
" Raleigh Tavern," and formed an association to correspond with other colonies 
in regard to " The Cause of Boston." The following entries in his diary show, 
though the excitement was so great, there was no interruption of courtesy be- 
tween these courtly gentlemen : " Rid out with the Governor to Ms farm and break- 
fasted with him there." " Dined at the Treasurers, and went to a ball at Wil- 
liamsburg in honor of Lady Dunmore, given by the House of Burgesses." 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, accompanied by Generals Gates and Mifflin, 
and in the presence of the President and a large number of congressmen, re- 
viewed 2800 city militia on the Parade Ground, Philadelphia. He also reviewed 
two battalions of Continental troops. He was accompanied by several Indian 
chiefs, who were in the city " to attend to some business before Congress." 

1786 General Washington superintended the improvements needed at Mount 
Vernon after an absence of eight years. This day he records : '' Finished laying 
twenty-eight courses of the pavement in my Piazza. Weather very unfavorable 
for it." This piazza is ninety-six feet long, twelve and a half feet wide. The 
flagging was brought from the Isle of Wight, ordered after Washington had 
seen several specimens. It is twelve inches square, two and a half inches thick, 
and remains as he laid it more than a centuiy ago. 



" Since the day God created man on the earth, none ever displayed the power of industry 
more frugally than did George Washington." Bev. Mason L. Weems (South Carolina). 



o 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 79 

MAY TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1754 Lieutenant-Colonel Washington and John Davison, Half -King of the 
Mingoes, had a skirmish at Great Meadows with Captain Jumonville and a 
small detachment of French. Jumonville was killed, and the French claimed 
that this officer was on a peaceful mission and that Washington had killed an 
ambassador ; but papers on his body established the fact that Jumonville was in 
command of a reconnoitering party. 

1782 " The Commander-in-chief is happy in the opportunity of announcing 
to the army the birth of a Dauphin of France ; and desii'ous of giving a general 
occasion for testifying the satisfaction which, he is convinced, will pervade the 
breast of every American officer and soldier on the communication of an event 
so highly interesting to a monarch and nation who have given such distinguish- 
ing proofs of their attachment, is pleased to order a feu-de joie on Thursday 
next." Washington's Orderly Book {Neivhurg). 

1789 Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Morris, and Mrs. Jay, who had passed the 
ni^ht at "Liberty Hall," Elizabeth, the home of Governor Livingston, were 
joined at breakfast by their husbands. The party embarked on the President's 
barge, and reached New York at noon. " No foreign Queen was ever welcomed 
by a loving people with more genuine delight." 



" The character of Washington in war, in peace and in private life is the most sublime on 
historical record." William HicJcling Prescott {Massachusetts). 

MAY TWENTY-NINTH. 

1754 From Great Meadows Lieutenant-Colonel Washington sent to Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddle four Frenchmen with a letter, saying, " The bearers hereof. 
Monsieur Drouillon, Monsieur La Force, and two cadets, I beg leave to recom- 
mend to your particular notice as prisoners of war and officers whom I had the 
honor of taking. The French Prisoners asked me in what Manner I looked 
upon them, whether as the Attendants of an Embassador, or as Prisoners of 
War : I answered them that it was in the Quality of the Latter." 

1786 " About nine o'clock, Mr. Tobias Lear, who had been previously en- 
gaged on a salery of two hundred dollars a year to live with me as private 
secretary, and preceptor for Washington Custis, came here from New Hamp- 
shire, at which place his friends reside." Washington's Diary {Mount Vernon). 

1789 President Washington gave his first State dinner at the Executive 
Mansion, No. 10 Cherry Street, New York. The guests were the Governor of 
New York, the Vice-President, the Speaker of the House, Hon. John Jay, Gen- 
eral St. Clair, several senators, and the foreign ministers. It was most informal. 
" Washington standing at the head of the table asked a blessing." The follow- 
ing day Mrs. Washington held her first drawing-room, which event Daniel 
Huntington has portrayed in his beautiful painting, " The Republican Court." 
The President described the company as " large and respectable." 

1790 Rhode Island adopted the Federal Constitution. 



" Washington never neglected any duties, filial, domestic or public." 

Benson John Lossing {New Yorh), 



^ 



80 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

MAY THIRTIETH. 

1755 Colonel Washington, having been despatched on the 15th, by General 
Braddock, to Williamsburg, reached the camp at Wills Creek (Cumberland, Md.), 
bringing four thousand pounds, the result of his mission to the capital. His 
position as aide-de-camp to the general had been officially announced. 

1757 Colonel Washington, from Fort Loudoun, Winchester, Va., — the most 
important of the chain of frontier defenses he established, — wrote to the Speaker 
of the House of Burgesses that, " Bullen, a Catawba warrior, has been propos- 
ing a plan to Captain Gist for bringing in the Creek and Chickasaw Indians. 
If such a scheme as this can be effected by the time we shall march to Fort 
Duquesne, it would be a glorious undertaking, and worthy the man." 

1794 The Senate confirmed the nomination of John Quincy Adams as minister 
resident to The Hague. He was only twenty-eight when Washington gave him 
this important mission, and the selection was justified in the long and brilliant 
career of " the old man eloquent." The first President never lost interest in the 
young diplomat whom he so successfully launched on a brilliant career. 



' ' If my wishes would be of any avail, they would go to you in a strong hope that you will 
not withhold merited promotion from Mr. John Quincy Adams because he is your son. For 
without intending to compliment the father or mother, or to censure any others, I give it as a 
decided opinion that Mr. Adams is the most valuable public character we have abroad and that 
he will prove himself to be the ablest of our Diplomatic Corps." 

Washington to President Adams (1797). 

MAY THIRTY-FIRST. 

1754 Upon the death this day at Cumberland, Md., of Colonel Joshua Fry, 
the distinguished scholar and highly trusted officer, the command of the Vir- 
ginia forces in the expedition against the French and Indians devolved upon 
Lieutenant-Colonel Washington. Reinforcements were sent him, and five days 
later Governor Dinwiddle promoted him to the rank of colonel. 

1769 " Set off with Mrs. Washington and Patsy, Mr. Warner Washington 
and wife, Mrs. Bushrod and Miss Washington, and Mr. Magowen for Towlston, 
in order to stand for Mr. B. Fairfax's third son, which I did together with 
my wife, Mr. Warner Washington and his lady." Washington's Diary {Mount 
Vernon). 

1790 President Washington, at the Executive Mansion in New York, received 
from Thomas Paine, London, the '' Key of the Bastile," sent by Lafayette, who 
said : '' It is a tribute which I owe as a son to my adopted Father ; as an aide- 
de-camp to my General ; as a Missionary of Liberty to its patriarch." When 
Paine transmitted it to Washington, he wrote : '' That the principles of America 
opened the Bastile is not to be doubted ; therefore the key comes to the right 
place." The key now hangs under a glass case at Mount Vernon, where Wash- 
ington placed it. Benjamin West, the venerable painter, asked Colonel Trumbull 
to make this presentation the subject of an historical picture. 



' Washington invested everything he touched with a kind of saeredness." 

Dr. Von Hoist {Germany)^ 














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JUNE FIRST. 

1774 Colonel "Washington went to clmrcli and fasted all day, in pursuance 
of the resolution passed by the House of Burgesses. Of the feeling in regard 
to closing the port of Boston, Jefferson said : " The people met generally with 
anxiety and alarm in their countenances, and the effect of the day, through the 
whole Colony, was like a shock of electricity, arousing every man, and placing 
him erect and solidly on his center." 

1780 The Commander-in-chief, through a handbill published by authority in 
the city of New York, received the news of the capitulation by Major-General 
Lincoln to Sii* Henry Clinton of Charleston, S. C. At this time he was also 
greatly depressed by the discords and dissensions existing between subordinate 
commands, and having close to his heart the union of the Colonies and the 
unity of the army, he thus wrote to a member of Congress : " I see one head 
gradually changing into thii-teen, I see one army branching into thirteen, which, 
instead of looking up to Congress as the Supreme controlling power of the United 
States, are considering themselves as dependent on their respective States." 

1787 During the sitting of the Convention, Washington seems to have found 
social relaxations. Among other recreations he notes : "Accompanied Mrs. Morris 
and some ladies to hear a Mrs. O'Connell read. The lady being reduced in cir- 
cumstances had recom'se to this expedient to obtain a little money." 

1791 To the United Brethren of the Moravian Church, Salem, N. C, the 
President said : " From a society whose governing principles are industry'' and 
love of order, much may be expected towards the improvement and prosperity of 
the country in which their settlements are found, and experience authorizes the 
belief that much will be obtained." 

1792 President Washington approved the act admitting Kentucky into the 
Union. This Territory had been greatly disturbed regarding the restrictions of 
Statehood, and nine conventions were held before the people were satisfied. On 
this day four years later he approved the act admitting Tennessee, making 
three States added to the Union and three stars added to the flag dm-ing his 
administration. 



" Oh! who shall know of the might 
Of the words he uttered there ? 
The fate of nations then was turned 
By the fervor of that prayer. 



' But wouldst thou know his words, 
Who wandered there alone ? 
Go, read enrolled in Heaven's archives, 
The prayer of Washington." Anon. 



81 



82 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JUNE SECOND. 



1754 Colonel Washington, from Great Meadow Camp, wrote Governor Din- 
widdle of the arrival of " the HaK King with about 25 Familys, count'g near 
80 persons including women and children. He has given me some acc't of the 
Twigtees, Wyandotts, and several other nations of Indians, which I have trans- 
mitted to your Honor by an express." 

1779 The Commander-in-chief received at Middlebrook addresses from min- 
isters and deacons of the Dutch Reformed Church of Raritan, N. J., commending 
his wisdom, caution, and patriotism, and assuring him of the support of their 
people. Having given General Sullivan a command of three thousand men, with 
the order to penetrate "the very heart of the Indian Settlement" and avenge 
the massacre of Wyoming on the Six Nations, he wrote to the president of 
Congress : " I expect to set out to-morrow towards the Highlands, by way of 
Morristown. We shaU press forward with all diligence, and do every thing in 
oiu" power to disappoint the enemy." 

1783 General Washington, from Newburg, issued orders in conformity with 
a resolution of Congress: " To grant furloughs to noncommissioned officers 
and soldiers enlisted to serve during the war, who shall be discharged as soon as 
the definitive treaty of peace is concluded ; that the Secretary of War take the 
proper measures for conducting those troops to their respective homes." 



" I regard George Washington as not only one of the great men of history, but in a conspica- 
ous sense as an instrument in the hands of Providence in effecting the civil and political eman- 
cipation of this nation, as Moses was the instrument of God in the deliverance of the Hebrew 
people from religious bondage." John, Cardinal Gibbons. 

JUNE THIRD. 

1773 Colonel Washington, returning from Princeton, where he accompanied 
his stepson, Mr. Custis, notes in his diary : " Rid to the Meadows along the 
River before breakfast. About 11 o'clock left Philadelphia ; dined at the Sorrel 
House, 13 miles from it, and lodged at the Ship Tavern, 34 off." Upon his ar- 
rival at Mount Vernon he found his stepdaughter, Martha Parke Custis, to 
whom he was devoted, alarmingly ill. In one of his domestic orders to London in 
1759, these significant items appear : '^ A fashionably dressed doll-Baby, to cost 
one guinea, another, to cost five shillings." 

1776 Congress, at the suggestion of the Commander-in-chief, passed an act 
calling for ten thousand troops, to establish in the Middle Colonies a " Flying 
Camp" as a reserve force. Washington was anxious to have the recruits in 
camp for di'illing and discipline, and wrote strong letters urging Governor Trum- 
bull and other governors to hurry the enlistment of their quotas. 

1790 President Washington congratulated himself upon his official surround- 
ings : " By having Mr. Jefferson at the head of the Department of State, Mr. Jay 
of the Judiciary, Mr. Hamilton of the Treasury and Knox of that of War, I feel 
myself supported by able coadjutors, who harmonize extremely well together." 



"As a Warrior he served refusing pay and led in the achievement of our independence. As 
a Statesman and Lawgiver his guiding wisdom assisted in framing the Constitutional Law. As 
first President of the United States he governed with firmness and moderation." 

JoJm Sartain {Pennsylvania). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY, 83 



JUNE FOURTH. 



1775 "Washington wrote his wife that Mr. and Mrs. Morris had persuaded him 
to have his luggage brought and remain there during his stay. " Dined at Rob- 
ert Morris's on the banks of the School Mil." Washington's Diary. This is a sig- 
nificant record of the beginning of a friendship between the future Commander 
of the American forces and the able and patriotic financier of the Revolution. 
Their relations were not affected by the strange vicissitudes of fortune : to-day 
the guest of Morris in his palatial home, and nearly a quarter of a century later 
visiting the same friend within the gloomy walls of a debtors' prison. 

1782 Washington wrote from the Hudson : "I am just informed by the sec- 
retary of war, that Captain Asgill of the British guards, an unfortunate of&cer 
who is destined to be the unhappy victim to atone for the death of Captain 
Huddy, had arrived in Philadelphia, and would set off soon for the Jersey line, 
the place assigned for his execution." 

1790 President Washington congratulated Governor Fenner upon the ratifi- 
cation of the Constitution by Rhode Island and the Providence Plantation, say- 
ing, " Since the bond of union is now complete and we are once more considered 
as one family, it is to be hoped reproaches will cease and judgments be done 
away with." 



"His more than Roman virtues, Ws consummate prudence, his powerful intellect, and his 
dauntless decision and dignity of character, would have made him illustrious in any age. The 
crisis would have done nothing for him, had not his character stood ready to merit it." 

William Wirt {Virginia). 

JUNE FIFTH. 

1771 Colonel Washington wrote to Dr. Boucher in regard to Jack Custis: 
" However desirable it may be to see him travel under the care of a Gentleman 
who would endeavor to guard, & steer him clear of those follies & vices which 
youth almost imperceptably falls into, at the same time that he was Instilling 
into him taste for useful knowledge and improvement. Yet I must own I should 
never wish to see him set out for England, at his time of Life recommended to 
the care of a merchant only, or to Embark on a Tom* of the kind you propose 
without a Conductor." Dr. Jonathan Boucher, Jacky Custis's preceptor, was a 
fine classic scholar ; but in 1776 his Tory principles were so offensive to the pa- 
triotic Marylanders that his property was confiscated, and he was glad to get 
back to " Merrie England." 

1783 General Washington, referring to the only major-general of the foiu* 
appointed when he took command, of the army who remained in service until 
the close of the war, said : '* Among the many worthy and meritorious officers, 
with whom t have had the happiness to be connected in service through the 
course of this war, and from whose cheerful assistance and advice I have re- 
ceived much support and confidence, in the various and trying vicissitudes of a 
complicated contest, the name of a Putnam is not forgotten." 



" Washington read little, but with close attention. Whatever he took in hand he applied 
himself to with ease, and his papers which have been preserved, show how almost imperceptibly 
he gained the power of writing correctly, always expressing himself with clearness and direct- 
ness, often with felicity of language and grace." George Bancroft. 



84 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JUNE SIXTH. 



1754 Colonel Washington noted: "Mr, Gist is returned, and acquaints me of 
the Death of poor Colonel Fry, and of the safe Ai-rival of the French Prisoners 
at Winchester, which gave the Governor great satisfaction. I am also informed 
that, Mr. Montour (an Indian trader) is coming with a Commission to command 
Two Hundred Indians." 

1783 The Commander-in-chief received at Newburg an address from the 
generals and other officers commanding regiments and corps in the cantonment on 
the Hudson River, in regard to furloughing officers and soldiers without satis- 
factory settlement of their accounts. In reply, he assured them, " Congress 
would attend particularly to their grievances," but begged their patience in con- 
sideration of the state of the finances. 

1793 Mrs. Fielding Lewis, from Kenmore, wi-ote her brother, the President, 
in regard to her niece Harriet, a gay, bright girl, very much on their minds : 
''The money you sent from Philadelphia purchased her a dress for the Birth- 
night. It must have appeared Particular had I refused to let her go, and having 
nothing fit for that purpose obliged me to lay out that money for that dress." 
'' The Birthnight" was the annual ball in Alexandria, February 22d. 



"There is a remarkable air of dignity about him, with a striking degree of gracefulness. 
He has an excellent understanding, without much quickness, is strictly just, vigilant and gener- 
ous; an affectionate husband, a faithful friend, a father to the deserving soldier, gentle in his 
manner, in temper mild, a total stranger to religious prejudices; in morals, irreproachable, and 
never known to exceed the bounds of the most rigid temperance." London Chronicle (1780). 

JUNE SEVENTH. 

1765 From the frontier Colonel Washington wi-ote his mother he regretted 
that he was unable to fiu-nish her with a Dutch servant, or send her the butter 
she desired, " as we are quite out of the part of the country where edibles are to 
be had, and I am sorry not to have been able to stop and see you either going or 
coming from Williamsburg." To his brother he said : ''I was escorted by 8 men 
of the militia of Winchester to this camp ; which 8 men were two days assem- 
bling, but I believe they would not have been more than as many seconds dis- 
persing if I had been attacked." 

1777 General Washington expressed surprise and indignation at the opposi- 
tion to inoculation, and wrote his brother : " feurely, that Impolitic Act restrain- 
ing Inoculation in Vu'ginia can never be continued. If I were a member of that 
Assembly I would rather move for a Law to compel Masters of Families to in- 
oculate every child born within a certain limited time, under Severe Penalties." 

1796 Washington, always intolerant of dishonesty, wrote the following char- 
acteristic instructions to his overseer : '' I wish you would find out who robbed 
the meat-house at Mount Vernon and bring him to punishment, and at the same 
time secure the house against further attempts, for our drafts will be pretty large 
I expect when we come home." 



"By common consent Washington is regarded as not merely the Hero of the American 
Revolution, but the "World's Apostle of Liberty." 

John Frederick Schroeder, D. D. {Maryland). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 85 

JUNE EIGHTH. 

1782 The Commauder-iu-cliief ordered the fii-st badge of distinction to be con- 
ferred upon all soldiers who had served with credit in the army for three years. 
The decoration consisted of a white stripe on the upper part of the sleeve, " form- 
ing a herring-bone figure." 

1783 General Washington sent to Congress for its consideration the cele- 
brated circular letter which he had addressed to the governors and presidents 
of the thirteen colonies, earnestly and eloquently urging upon them the neces- 
sity of a federal union. It is classified among the most important emanations 
from Washington's prolific pen. The original is in the archives of the Depart- 
ment of State at Washington. 

1788 The Federalist, a. miniaiure ship fifteen feet long, used in the procession 
at Baltimore, in celebrating the ratification of the Constitution, was manned by 
sea-captains and commanded by Barney, who, having sailed her down the Ches- 
apeake and up the Potomac to Mount Vernon, presented her to Washington in 
the name of the merchants and ship-masters of Baltimore. In his diary of the 
9th he said they arrived to breakfast and remained all night. Captain Barney 
was the first accredited officer of the United States Navy ; commission signed 
February 22, 1796, to take effect from June 4, 1794. 



" Washington's circular letter sent from Newburgh was the keystone of the Union. It was 
termed ' the inestimable legacy bequeathed to his country.' ... It is my opinion that Wash- 
ington's influence will do more than all the assemblies on the continent. I have always thought 
him exceedingly popular, but in many places he is little less than adored and universally 
admired." General Nathaniel Ch'eene {Rhode Island). 

JUNE NINTH. 

1756 In a letter to Governor Dinwiddle, Colonel Washington accepted the 
command of the Virginia troops. The force was 1600 strong, and had a large 
element of vigorous frontiersmen, who had participated more or less in the va- 
rious Indian campaigns. 

1768 Colonel Washington notes in his diary the departure of the attorney- 
general of the colony of Vii'ginia, who, with his wife and daughter, had been 
spending several days at Mount Vernon, A large party of neighbors and friends 
had been invited to meet them. The generous hospitality of country gentlemen 
in the Old Dominion was fashioned after the manner of their English ancestors. 

1778 At Washington's headquarters, VaUey Forge, General Charles Lee 
took the oath of allegiance to the United States of America, having been a pris- 
oner when it was administered to the army. Since his exchange this brilliant 
officer had received every consideration from the Commander-in-chief; in fact, 
had been the pet of the camp. At this very time his mind was fiUed with treach- 
erous schemes against the patriot cause. 



" When everything in the education and environments of Washington tended to shape his 
views as a supporter of the ancient principle of hereditary monarchy and aristocratic institu- 
tions, he threw himself with his whole force, and apparently without personal ambition, into 
the scale of republican government, so that it became the winning side, not only then but now; 
and the truth of his moral discernment is seen in the almost infallible sagacity of his political 
wisdom." James Mason Hoppin, LL. D. {Yale College). 



86 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JUNE TENTH. 



1754 Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, at the request of Queen Alaquippa, 
admitted her son to the council-fii-e. He also presented to him a medal, and 
bestowed upon him the name of " Colonel Fairfax," which the Indians inter- 
preted " The first of the council." Learning that the Half -King desired an Eng- 
lish name, he called him "Dinwiddle," saying to the old brave: "The head of 
all." He gave to each chief a medal, wearing one himself, "■ in remembrance of 
our great father the King of England." 

1783 General Washington wrote from Newburg to the " Commissioners of 
Embarkation," in New York, a long and diplomatic letter upon their limited power 
in conducting the embarkation of the British troops under Sir Guy Carleton, 
saying, " The power is not in our hands. ... I see little more that you wiU be 
able to do than be witnesses of the various acts that wiU probably pass under 
your cognizance." As the army was being gradually disbanded, it was an- 
nounced, '' For the Present, there will be one Field Ofiicer, and an Adjutant for 
the day ; and the guards only will form on the grand parade at nine o'clock in 
the morning." 



" In his letters he is plain; in his public address elegant; in all he is correct, expressing in 
a small compass his clear conceptions, without tiresome nervosity or any parade of ornament. 
In attending to what has fallen from his pen the connection between modes of thinking and 
writing, between character and composition, is apparent. His writings are worded with the 
strong and pleasing features of sincerity, simplicity, and dignity." 

John Davis, before the Massachusetts Historical Society (1800). 

JUNE ELEVENTH. 

1779 From Smith's Tavern, in the Clove, the Commander-in-chief wrote to 
the president of Congress : '' We have taken post for the present with the main 
body of the army in this Clove ; where we are as well situated as we could be 
anywhere else, to succor the forts (on the Hudson) in case the futiu-e operations 
of the enemy should be directed against them." Two days after this letter, 
Washington, leaving General Putnam in command, went to West Point. 

1783 Congress read and discussed Washington's circular letter, addressed to 
the governors of all the States, on disbanding the army. He said there are four 
things essential to the existence of the United States as an independent power; 
" An indissoluble union of the States under one federal head, — a sacred regard 
to public justice, — The adoption of a proper peace establishment — The preva- 
lence of that pacific and friendly disposition among the people of the United 
States, which will induce them to forget their local prejudices and politics ; to 
make those mutual concessions, which are requisite to the general prosperity ; 
and in some instances, to sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of 
the community." 



"The gift of personal leadership is one that threatens its possessor wdth continual harm. 
History shows us but one Washington, who could self denyingly lay down his high office before 
continuance in power was likely to injure his country or himself. Perhaps we shall never 
know how much we owe, as the first reijublic on earth, in the preservation of democratic prin- 
ciples to this lofty act of self denial." Celia Parker Woolley (Ohio). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 87 

JUNE TWELFTH. 

1757 Colouel Washington, at Fort Loudoun, was perplexed by the misman- 
agement of Indian affairs. He said: "I acknowledge my incompetency, and 
therefore shall only observe that the Indians have been pleased and displeased 
oftener than they should have been." Colonel Stauwix said the Indian agents 
"were jealous of each other, and jealous of the Provences." 

1784 From Mount Vernon, Washington wrote James Madison : " Can no- 
thing be done in our Assembly for poor Paine ? Must the merits and services 
of 'Common Sense,' continue to glide down the stream of time, unrewarded by 
this countrj^ ? His writings certainly have had a powerful effect upon the pubHc 
mind. He is poor, he is chagrined, and almost in despair of relief." 

1791 President Washington, accompanied by Major Jackson, returned to 
Mount Vernon from his Southern tour, having been absent two months. He 
wrote to Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury : " The improbabiUty 
of performing a toiu* of seventeen hundred miles with the same set of horses^ 
without encountering any accident by which a deviation would be rendered un- 
avoidable appeared so great, that I allowed eight days for casualities. None hav- 
ing happened, I shall refresh myself at this place." 



" It was a most fortunate thing for the country that the first democratic ruler might have 
sat upon a throne with all the dignity of a princely scion. He had all the virtues of a King 
without any of his vices. The first of the Presidents will remain the ideal of all coming Presi- 
dents, and not appear small, even when the present sixty shall have expanded tc six hundred 
millions of citizens of these United States." Chistav Gottheil, D. D. {New York), 

JUNE THIRTEENTH. 

1758 Colonel Washington returned to his command at Fort Loudoun after 
a second visit to Mrs. Custis at her home on the Pamunkey, which absence ex- 
tended over a fortnight. He determined to leave the army as soon as possible, 
happy in the prospect of a retired domestic life with this charming woman. 

1777 The Commander-in-chief made this suggestion to Colonel Daniel Mor- 
gan, commanding the Virginia Rangers: "It occurs to me, that, if you were to dress 
a Company or two of the true Woodsmen in the Indian style, and let them make 
the attack with screaming and yelling, as the Indians do, it would have very good 
consequences ; especially if as little as possible were said or known about the 
matter before hand." 

1796 President Washington left Philadelphia for Mount Vernon, having 
previously notified his manager that during his stay a throng of visitors might 
be expected, and entered into detail as to " ample provision for the same." 
Among the guests were the French, British, Spanish, and Portuguese ministers, 
and other people of distinction. 



" Ever superior to fortune, he enjoyed her smiles with moderation, and endured her frowns 
with serenity ; and showed himself alike in victory forbearing and in defeat undaunted. . . . 
Perhaps there never was another man who trod with more unsullied honor the highest ways of 
glory, or whose personal character and conduct exercised an influence so powerful and so bene- 
ficial on the destiny of a nation." James Grahame, LL. D. (Scotland). 



88 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

JUNE FOURTEENTH. 

1775 Hon. John Adams wrote his wife he had notified the Congress he would 
at a proper time nominate a general : " I said I had but one gentleman in my 
mind for that important command, and that gentleman was from Virginia. . . . 
Mr. Washington, who happened to sit near the door, as soon as he heard me allude 
to him, from his usual modesty, darted into the Library Room." On the fifth 
Hon. Thomas Johnson of Maryland had suggested Washington as the " most ef- 
ficient man for the Commander-in-chief of the Colonial Forces." 

1777 Before Congress, sitting at Philadelphia, the " Committee on the war" 
offered a resolution : " That the flag of the 13 United States be 13 stripes, alter- 
nate red and white ; that the Union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, represent- 
ing a new constellation," which unanimously passed that body; and by this 
act established our national emblem. The thirteen alternate stripes of red and 
white in "■ The first flag of America" was retained, as Washington had said, " out 7 
of compliment to the United Colonies." 



"A hundred years with all their train " His deeds were ours — but through the world 

Of shadow have gone by, That mighty name will be, 

And yet his glorious name remains Where glory's banner is unfurled, 

A sound that cannot die ! The watchword of the free — 

'T is graven on the hill, the vale, And as they bend their eagle eyes, 

And on the mountain tall, On Victory's burning sun, 

And speaks in every sounding gale Their shouts will echo to the skies 

And roaring waterfall ! ' Our God and Washington ! ' " 

George D. Prentice {Neic Hampshire). 

JUNE FIFTEENTH. 

1775 George Washington, Esq., of Virginia, was nominated by Hon. Thomas 
Johnson, of Maryland, " to command all the Continental Forces raised or to be 
raised for the defense of American Liberty." The nomination was seconded by 
Samuel Adams of Massachusetts. The election was made by ballot, and Wash- 
ington was unanimously chosen. The House also resolved, " That five hundred 
dollars per month be allowed for the pay and expenses of the General." 

1781 General Washington, from New Windsor, congratulated the army on 
the glorious news received from General Greene of the successive victories in 
South Carolina: the forced evacuation of Camden by Lord Rawdon, the sur- 
render of Orangeburg to General Sumter, of Fort Mott to General Marion, and 
Fort Granby to Lieutenant-Colonel Lee. 

1790 Referring to the criticism that there was more pomp at his receptions 
than at the court of St. James, President Washington said : " Between the hours 
of three and four every tuesday, gentlemen, often in great numbers, come and 
go. A porter shows them into the room, and they retire from it when they 
please, without ceremony. At their first entrance, they salute me, and I them, 
and as many as I can talk to, I do. What pomp there is in all this, I am unable 
to discover. Perhaps it consists in not sitting.'''' 



"To George Washington nearly alone in modem times, had it been given to accomplish a 
wonderful revolution, and yet to remain to all future time the theme of a people's gratitude and 
an example of virtuous and beneficent power." Lord John Eussell {England). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 89 

JUNE SIXTEENTH. 

1775 President Hancock personally informed Colonel Washington that he 
had been unanimously chosen to command the Continental army. In a speech, 
from the floor of the House, Washington formally accepted the command of the 
army, asking each member to remember that he did not consider himself equal 
to the great responsibility with which he had been honored. He also said: "As 
to pay. Sir, I beg leave to assm-e the Congress that as no pecuniary considera- 
tion could have tempted me to accept this arduous emplojnnent, at the expense 
of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. 
I \vill keep an exact account of my expenses. Those I doubt not they will dis- 
charge, and that is all I desire." 

1786 General Washington records in his diarj^ : " Began about 10 o'clock to 
put up the book-press in my study." This was his library, in the south exten- 
sion, and was included in the improvements at Mount Vernon, between 1784 and 
1787. Although Washington never had time to be a student, a catalogue of his 
books embraces a wide range of subjects and indicates taste in selection. In 1848 
Jared Sparks and Andi-ews Norton collected through subscription $5,000, and 
purchased more than half of Washington's library for the Boston Athenaeum. 



"Angels might see, with joy, the sage, " On works of peace employ that hand, 

Who taught the battle where to rage, Which wav'd the blade of high command 

Or quench'd its spreading flame, And hew'd the path to fame." 

Col. David Humphreys (1786). 

JUNE SEVENTEENTH. 

1758 Colonel Washington, earnestly hoping for an improvement in the ad- 
ministration of military affairs, from Fort Loudoun congi'atulated Francis Fau- 
quier, Esq., upon his appointment to succeed Governor Din\^dddie. 

1775 The second Colonial Congress at Philadelphia ha\'ing unanimously 
chosen George Washington to be General and Commander-in-Chief, the delegates, 
from Nova Scotia to Georgia, resolved " that they will maintain and assist him 
and adhere to him, the said George Washington, with their Lives and Fortunes in 
the same cause." John Adams wrote his %vife : " I can now inform you that the 
Congress have made choice of the modest and \drtuous, the amiable, generous and 
brave George Washington, Esq., to be General of the American Army. This 
appointment "will have a great effect in securing the union of these Colonies," 

1787 " Went to church, heard Bishop Wliite preach, and see him ordain two 
gentlemen Deacons, after which rid 8 miles in the country and dined with Mr. 
John Ross, Chester County." Washington's Journal. 



" There was not a man on the Eastern Continent whom Napoleon did not desire to inile, nor 
one on the Western whom Washington did not wish to endow with the right of self-government. 
Who to-day woiild exchange the chaplet of thorns which he wore at Valley Forge for all the 
diadems which Napoleon gathered at Paris? Or who would prefer the fallen vanity which 
fretted in peevishness on the death-bed on the gloomy sea-girt island to the sweet tranquility 
which fell asleep at Mount Vernon? While France is still looking imploringly for a deliverer 
of the highest and best order, America is entwining her first century around the brow of her 
' Father.' The world watches the new coronation with wonder and involuntarily exclaims, 
* We have seen but one Washington.'" Thomas Armitage, D. D. (Kew York). 



90 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JUNE EIGHTEENTH. 



1775 General Washington at Philadelphia began his preparations for join- 
ing the troops at Cambridge. He wrote to his wife : "You may believe me, my 
dear Patsy, when I assure you, in the most solemn manner, that, so far from 
seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavour in my power to avoid it^ 
not only from my unwillingness to part with you and the Family, but a con- 
sciousness of its being a trust too great for my capability, and that I would 
enjoy more real happiness and felicity in one month with you at home than I 
have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be seven 
times seven years." 

1778 General "Washington, learning early in the morning that Sir Henry 
Clinton had evacuated Philadelphia, began breaking up camp at Valley Forge, 
prepared to follow the British with all possible despatch. He announced : "■ We 
shall proceed towards Jersey, and govern ourselves according to circumstances." 

1783 The Commander-in-chief officially thanked Major-General Baron Steu- 
ben for his efficient work as inspector-general. To this accomplished and effi- 
cient officer must be attributed much of the advancement in military art of the- 
patriotic army. 



"His countenance possesses an open "benignant look which is a very attractive character- 
istic; at the same time the dignity of his manners commands the highest respect. But words 
are wanted to convey to you the idea of a person, whose person and chai-acter are the object of 
such veneration and esteem." Archibald Robertson (Scotland). 

JUNE NINETEENTH. 

1773 Martha Parke Custis, only daughter of Mrs. Washington, died at 
Mount Vernon, of consumption, at the age of seventeen. Washington was 
greatly attached to his stepdaughter, and for several years anxiously assisted his 
wife in the hopeless endeavor to restore her to health. The decided type of this 
frail young girl had given her the name of the " dark lady." 

1783 The Congressional Committee — Alexander Hamilton, James Madison,, 
and Theodoric Bland — reported favorably upon Washington's circular letter, and 
issued it to the governors and presidents of the thirteen colonies. The Society 
of the Cincinnati held a meeting and chose General Washington, president-gen- 
eral, General McDougal treasurer, and General Knox secretary. Washington 
held the office during life. 

1786 The mouth of the Mississippi being in possession of foreign powers 
caused some uneasiness in the country, but Washington said : " Whenever the 
new states become so populous and so extended to the westward, as really to 
need it, there will be no power which can deprive them of the use of the Missis- 
sippi. Why, then, should we prematurely urge a matter, which may produce 
disagreeable consequences, if it is our interest to let it sleep ? " 



" As a didactic writer he can scarcely be esteemed too much; his sentiments have a fore© 
and a fascination to restore reason, invigorate patriotism, and awaken piety ; his public letters 
and documents should be engraven on the tablets of the nation." 

John Mason Willia7ns, LL. D. {Massachusetts). 



GEORQE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 91 



JUNE TWENTIETH. 



4i 



1757 Colonel Washington, in commenting upon roads on the frontier, said : 
"We all know that a blazed path in the eyes of an Indian is a large road, for he 
does not distinguish, between a track which will admit of carriages, and a road 
sufficient for them to march in." 

1775 On this day the newly appointed Commander-in-chief, having received 
his commission, dated June 19th, sent a circular letter to the Independent Com- 
panies in Fairfax County, Virginia, which he had helped to raise and drill. His 
first military act was to review, on the Commons, several militia companies of 
Philadelphia : " Horse and Foot in all about 2,000." Before leaving Cambridge 
he purchased and shipped for forty pounds (of Gibbs & Co.) a fire-engine for 
'^ Friendships Company," Alexandria, Va., of which organization he was a 
member. 

1786 General Washington, adhering to a resolution he had adopted, declined 
to accept the dedication of " a complete system of Arithmetic, by Nicholas 
Pike," saying, " It gives me the highest satisfaction to find the arts and sciences 
advancing in any country ; but when I find them advancing in America it gives 
ine peculiar pleasure." 



"There is something charming to me in the conduct of Washington. A gentleman of one of 
the finest fortunes upon the Continent, leaving his delicious retirement, his family and friends, 
sacrificing his ease, and hazarding all in the cause of his country. His views are noble and dis- 
interested. He declared when he accepted the mighty trust, that he would lay before us an 
exact account of his expenses, and would not accept a shilling for pay." 

John Adams (Massachusetts). 

JUNE TWENTY-FIRST. 

1775 The four major-generals Congress appointed to serve under Washing- 
ton were Artemus Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam. 
Eight brigadier-generals were also chosen, with orders to report to the Com- 
mander-in-chief at Cambridge. These were Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, 
David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, 
O' and Nathaniel Greene. 

1778 The army were all day crossing into the Jerseys at Coryells Ferry 
(forty miles from Valley Forge, and thirty-three miles above Philadelphia). 
General Lee was in the advance with six brigades. The bad condition of the 
roads from heavy rains made marching very laborious for the troops. Wash- 
ington wrote : " As soon as we have cleaned the arms, and can get matters in train 
we propose moving towards Princeton, in order to avail ourselves of any favor- 
able occasions, that may present themselves of attacking the enemy." 

1788 New Hampshire adopted the Federal Constitution. 



"He lives, ever lives, in the hearts of the "His work is done; 

free. But while the race of mankind endure, 

The wing of his fame spreads across the Let his great example stand 

broad sea ; Colossal seen of every land, 

He lives where the banner of freedom 's And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure, 

unfurled; Till in all lands, and thro' all human story, 

The pride of his country, the wealth of The path of duty be the way of glory." 

the world." Tennyson {England). 



92 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JUNE TWENTY-SECOND. 



1784 The committee appointed by the Legislature of Virginia to deter- 
mine '• what further measures may be necessary for perpetuating the gratitude 
and veneration of his country to General George Washington " suggested that a 
statue of Washington, of " the finest marble and best workmanship," be erected. 
This was unanimously approved, and a committee chosen to wait upon General 
Washington at Mount Vernon and consult his wishes in regard to said statue. 
Washington received the committee cordially, several of whom were cherished 
friends. In regard to the proposed statue he expressed a desire that in it the 
military should be subordinate to the civil — the general be lost in the citizen. 

1798 The country was greatly excited over the threatened European com- 
plications, and all eyes naturally turned to Washington. President Adams 
wrote urging him to accept the command of " The Provisional Army," saying, 
'' In event of a war with France, your name, if you will in any case permit us to 
use it, will have more elficacy in it than money or army." 



''America seemed safe under his protection. His face was grander than any sculptor had 
ever wrought in marble. . . . None could behold him without awe and reverence. . . . One of 
Washington's most invaluable characteristics was the faculty of bringing order out of confusion. 
The influence of his mind was like light gleaming through an unshaped world. It was this 
faculty, more than any other, that made him so fit to ride upon the storm of revolution where 
everything was unfixed and drifting in a troubled sea." Nathaniel Hawthorne {Massachusetts). 

JUNE TWENTY-THIRD. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, having been entertained the previous evening 
at a farewell supper given at the City Tavern, left Philadelphia for Cambridge, 
accompanied by General Schuyler, Major Mififlin, and his secretary Joseph Reed. 
He was escorted by " The Light Horse City Troop," a fine military organization 
of one hundred men under the command of Captain Markoe. 

1779 General Washington established headquarters at New Windsor, in the 
handsome house of William Ellison, where he was better situated to attend to 
different parts of the army on both sides of the Hudson. Some idea can be given 
of his laborious life during the war by the fact that he established headquarters 
at nearly two hundred and fifty houses, which in eight years averages about 
twelve days to a house. 

1797 To Colonel Humphreys President Washington wrote : '' The public 
buildings in the Federal City go on well : one wing of the Capitol (with which 
Congress might make a very good shift), and the President's House will be 
covered in this Autumn. An elegant bridge is thrown over the Potomack, at 
the little falls, and the navigation of the river above will be completed nearly, 
this season." 



"At the close of a century after his inauguration Washington's hold upon the hearts of his 
countrymen is stronger than ever before. In purity of motive, steadfastness of aim, incor- 
ruptible integrity, and lofty patriotism, he is still the model to which we point our youth, the 
pattern of every statesman, the pride of us all." Margaret ElizaJyeth Sangster {New York). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY, 93 

JUNE TWENTY-FOURTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief on his journey to Cambridge read a letter 
giving' a detailed account of the Battle of Bunker Hill ; and when he learned 
how bravely the raw troops had received the fire of the British regulars, he ex- 
claimed : " The liberties of our country are safe." 

1779 General Washington and family dined with the " American Union 
Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons," who celebrated the festival of St. John 
the Baptist, opposite West Point, near the Robinson House, which, until the 
war, was the home of his former friend Beverly Robinson, Esq. The feast was 
served in a bower, and a large number of distinguished people were present. 
Washington, upon retiring, was escorted to his barge by masonic officers, and a 
band playing " God Save America." Upon this commemorative day five years 
later he was the honored guest of his own Lodge No. 22, Alexandria, Virginia. 

1782 General Washington from Newburg wrote to the Count de Rocham- 
beau : ** I am at this moment on the point of setting out for Albany, on a visit 
to my posts in the vicinity of that place. My stay will not exceed eight or ten 
days, and will be shortened if any despatches should be received from you in 
the meantime." 



" So far as I am acquainted with the principles and doctrines of Freemasonry I conceive 
them to be founded on benevolence, and to be exercised only for the good of mankind." 

George Washington (1798). 

JUNE TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief was met at Jersey City by a committee of the 
Provincial Congress of New York, and a larger body of citizens than had ever 
before congregated. His military escort was composed of nine companies of 
militia. The honors and reception prepared by the Tories for Governor Tryon 
were given to Washington. Here he issued his first order, which was to Gen- 
eral Schuyler to take command of the Department of New York. 

1781 General Washington's journal notes: "Joined the army at its encamp- 
ment at Peekskill. Mrs. Washington set out at the same time for Virginia." 
The next morning is found this order: "The Commander-in-chief has the plea- 
sure of announcing to the Army the approach of the troops of his most Chris- 
tian Majesty under the command of his Excellency Lieutenant General Count 
de Rochambeau." 

1788 Virginia adopted the Federal Constitution. 

1799 Washington wrote from Mount Vernon to Colonel John Trumbull, 
then in London : " I question whether the toils arising from the French getting -, 
possession of Louisiana and the Floridas would be generally seen, until it is 
felt, and yet no problem in Euclid is more evident, or susceptable of clearer 
demonstration. No less difficult is it to make them believe, that offensive opera- 
tions, oftentimes, are the surest, if not the only means of defence." 



" Devoted to peace as he was, he thought with Pliny that war might be necessary, and was 
neither to be feared or provoked." James C. Pickett (Eentwky). 



94 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

JUNE TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1775 The Commander-iu-chief, with his escort aud a number of gentlemen 
friends, left New York for Cambridge. He remained all night at New Rochelle, 
where he was joined in the morning by Major-General Charles Lee. ** The 
Philadelphia Horse " left for home. In reply to an address from the Provincial 
Congress of New York, Washington significantly said : " When we assumed the 
soldier we did not lay aside the citizen." " The Congress of Massachusetts Bay 
passed a resolution, providing for a respectful reception of Generals Washington 
and Lee. The business was conducted with great simplicity and economy, the 
entire expense amounting to twenty-eight pounds, five shillings and ten pence." 

1777 Of General Lord Howe's advance with his entire army toward Middle- 
brook, Washington wrote : " What was the design of this new manoeuvre I 
know not, whether to attempt our strength — whether to cut off the light Troops 
which I had advanced towards their lines, or whether finding themselves a little 
disgraced by their former move, they wanted to flourish oft' a little at quitting 
the Jerseys. We followed them with light troops back to their works at Amboy 
but could not prevent the Desolation they committed." 



" I feel myself at times under a strong impulse to prophesy that Washington was born for 
the deliverance of America; that Providence who has raised aud trained him up for that very 
pui'pose, will shield his head in every day of battle, will give him to see America free, flourish- 
ing and happy." Hugh Knox, D. D. (1777). 

JUNE TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1778 Washington was annoyed by the vacillating conduct of General Charles 
Lee, who had refiised the advance on the 25th, and wished to be reinstated the 
day following. The command had been given to Lafayette, who received a letter 
from the Commander-in-chief stating his embarrassment, and he with distin- 
guished courtesy retired in favor of Lee. The offtcers realizing they were on 
the eve of an engagement, begged their beloved General not to expose himself as 
he had done on previous occasions. 

1779 From New Windsor, Washington wrote to the president of Congress : 
'' The Regiments for want of suflflcient number of oflacers, and for want of zeal 
in the few that remain are dwindling to nothing. Several of these Gentlemen 
of sentiment and much attached to the service, lately waited upon me to repre- 
sent their case. They stated their sufferings in terms the most affecting and 
supported by facts that could not be questioned." 

1782 General Washington received distinguished attention from the civil 
authorities and the citizens of Albany, N. Y. All the church-bells in the city 
began to ring at six o'clock, and at sunset thirteen guns were fired. He was 
presented with the freedom of the city in a box of gold. 



" The times in which our country struggled to appear before the world as a nation may not 
have made George Washington. But when they called for their great man he was there." 

Francis Richard Stockton (Pennsylvania). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 95 

JUNE TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1776 G-eneral Washington issued the following warning, upon the execution 
of a member of his body-guard : '' The unhappy fate of Thomas Hickey exe- 
cuted this day for Mutiny, Sedition, and Treachery ; the General hopes will be a 
warning to every soldier in the army to avoid those crimes and all others, so dis- 
graceful to the character of a soldier, and pernicious to his country, whose pay 
he receives and Bread he eats." 

1778 The Battle of Monmouth Court-House was fought. The action began 
early in the morning ; after General Charles Lee had ordered a retreat, Wash- 
ington rallied the troops and gained a decided victory over Sir Henry Clinton. 
It was here that the Commander-in-chief, seeing the treachery, or cowardice, of 
Lee, denounced him in the most tenible manner. " Swore like an Angel from 
Heaven," said Colonel Henry Lee. To his brother, Washington wrote : '' From 
an unfortunate and bad beginning tui-ned out a glorious and happy day." 

1781 That noble patriot, Robert Morris, sent the army, then encamped on 
the Hudson, 2,000 barrels of flour. Washington writes, thanking him for his 
generous and timely assistance, stating in conclusion : '' Without that aid we 
should have been already distressed ; and I must confess to you, that I see no 
prospect of being supplied but through your means." 



"His character is a constellation of all the greatest attributes that adorn human nature." 

Samuel Stanhope Smith, LL. D., President of Princeton. 

JUNE TWENTY-NINTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief notified Congress: "I have just received an 
express from an officer appointed to keep a look-out on Staten Island, that forty- 
five ships arrived at the Hook ; some say more," On landing, the British appro- 
priated the live stock, but as the inhabitants were mostly Tories, their loss was 
not a grievance. 

1778 General Washington having remained on the battle-field of Monmouth 
all night with Lafayette, under blankets, discovered that the British had made a 
noiseless retreat. He notified Congress of a hard-won victory, and marched his 
troops to Brunswick, to allow his army time to recuperate. At this battle " Cap- 
tain Mollie Pitcher" took the place of her wounded husband. Sergeant Hays, and 
worked his gun with fine effect. Washington complimented her. The Federal 
Government and the Legislature of Pennsylvania each gave her an annuity, and 
in 1833 she was buried at Lancaster, Pa., with the honors of war. 

1782 The Commander-in-chief, escorted by General Gansevoort and forty 
volunteer officers, visited the battle-field of Saratoga. In the afternoon he re- 
viewed the first New Hampshire Regiment, and examined the Block-Houses. 



" Though as intrepid as Hannibal and fortunate as Csesar ; yet mildness and humanity were 
prominent traits in his character: he never pierced a fallen foe. Washington fought not to con- 
quer, but to defend ; not to ruin the foe, but to protect his people ; not to enslave a country, 
but to free, to bless, to build up a nation ; to establish it on the broad basis of equal rights, under 
the enjoyment of liberty and under the protection of love." 

Captain Josiah Dunham, lOtk U. S. Regulars (1800). 



06 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JUNE THIRTIETH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief, on his journey to Cambridge, left the Webb 
House, Wethersfield, Conn., early in the morning, and reaching Springfield, was 
met by a committee from the Provisional Congress of Massachusetts Bay, con- 
sisting of Dr. Benjamin Church and Moses Gill, by whom he was escorted 
through Brookfield, Worcester, and Marlborough to Watertown. 

1776 Mrs. Washington left New York this day for Mount Vernon. The 
G-eneral wrote to the president of Congress : " When I had the honor of address- 
ing you yesterday, I had only been informed of the arrival of Forty-five of the 
fleet in the Morning, since that I have received authentic Intelligence from Sun- 
dry persons, among them from Genl Greene, that One hundred and Ten Sail 
came in before night that were counted, and that more were seen about dusk in 
the offing." 

1778 General Washington placed General Charles Lee under arrest, having 
received from him an impertinent letter. Afterward, by the decision of a coun- 
cil of war, he was suspended, "for ordering a retreat at Monmouth and for disre- 
spectful language to the Commander-in-chief." 

1782 Witliin five miles of Schenectady, N. Y., General Washington was met 
by a delegation of citizens, who gave expression to the pleasure they felt in his 
visit. One hundred Oneida and Tuscarora Indians joined in the procession with- 
out the gates, armed and gaily hideous in war-paint. 

1785 The following entry in Washington's diary at Mount Vernon justifies his 
speaking of that place as " a well resorted tavern " : " Dined with only Mrs. 
Washington, which I believe is the first instance of it since my retirement from 
public life." 



" A man of unsullied purity of character ; a ruler of broad statesmanship and lofty patriot- 
ism ; a soldier of the highest courage, pnidence, and mastery of the art of war ; a character al- 
ways impartial, moderate, temperate, and just : in short, a being adorned with all the virtues, 
and without any of the foibles of humanity ; such is the ideal Washington. If we go to Wash- 
ington's contemporaries for evidence as to what manner of man he was, the pleasing picture of a 
faultless character will be largely modified. The great man will appear to us not less great for 
sharing in the passions and the errors which beset strong natures, but the saintly halo with 
which the devotees of perfection have crowned him will disappear, and leave us, not a saint, but 



a man. 



Ainsworth B. Spofford {New Hampshire). 








JULY FIRST. 

1755 Colonel Washington, having been detained three weeks by a violent 
fever at camp Youghiogany, was pronounced convalescent, and, impatient at delay, 
started with a provision train to join General Braddock. In a letter to his 
brother he said: "The General gave his word of honor, pledged in the most 
solemn manner, that I should be brought up before they reached Fort Duquesne." 

1763 Colonel Washington, at Mount Vernon, writes in his diary: "Went 
over to Stafford Court-House to attend a meeting of the ^ Mississippi Adventure,' 
and lodged there." This was an association of British and Colonial gentlemen in- 
terested in exploring and settling the territory beyond the Alleghany Mountains. 

1781 Washington instructed General Lincoln "to make an attempt to sur- 
prise the enemy's posts on the North end of York Island." To Governor Clinton 
he wrote, " In fullest confidence," that in event of success, beacons would be fired 
as signals for the Governor to place himself at the head of the militia, and with 
four days' rations march to Kingsbridge. 

1783 This is the last entry in George Washington's account with the United 
States of the expenditures for eight years — June, 1775,- June, 1783 : " July 1 — To 
Mrs. Washington's traveling exp's in coming to & returning from my Winter 
Quarters per acc't rendered — the money to defray which being taken from my 
private Purse, & brought with her from Virg.*, £1064-1-0." 



"I see in Washington a great soldier who fought a trying war to a successful end impossible 
without him ; I find in him a marvellous judgment which was never at fault, a penetrating vision 
which beheld the future of America when it was dim to other eyes, a great intellectual force, a 
will of iron, an unyielding grasp of facts, and an unequalled strength of patriotic purpose. I see 
in him too a high-minded gentleman of dauntless courage and stainless honor, simple and stately 
of manner, kind and generous of heart ; such he was in truth. The historian and the biographer 
may fail to do him justice, but the instinct of mankind will not fail. The real hero needs not 
books to give him worshippers. George Washington will always receive the love and reverence 
of men because they see embodied in him the noblest possibilities of humanity. . . . Party 
newspapers might revile, but the instinct of the people was never at fault. — They loved, trusted 
and well nigh worshipped Washington living, and they loved, honored, and reverenced him with 
an unchanging fidelity since his death, nearly a hundred years. . . . There must have been 
something very impressive about a man who, with no pretence to the art of an orator and no 
touch of the charlatan, could so move and affect vast bodies of men." 

Henry Cabot Lodge (Massachusetts). 
7 97 



98 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

JULY SECOND. 

1775 At Watertown, the Commander-in-chief was received by the Provincial 
Congress of Massachusetts Bay, in session at that place. His escort was a troop 
of horse and a number of distinguished gentlemen. This Congress had resolved 
that the "President's House" (the mansion for the president of Harvard), with 
the exception of one room for that dignitary, " be taken, cleared, prepared, and 
furnished " for Washington. 

1778 After the engagement at Monmouth, Washington started for the Hud- 
son. He said : " The march from Englishtown was inconceivably distressing to 
the troops and horses. The distance is about twenty miles, through a deep sand, 
without a drop of water except at South river, which is half way." 

1787 "Attended convention. Dined with some of the members of the con- 
vention at the ' Indian Queen.' Drank Tea at Mr. Bingham's, and walked after- 
wards in the State house yard. Set this morning for Mr. Pine who wanted to 
correct his portrait of me." Washington's Diary {Philadelphia). Two months 
after this appears in his journal, " In convention all day. Dined at the Presi- 
dents (Dr. Franklin) and took tea at Mr. Pines." 



"In the curious discussions that are sometimes indulged in as to who in history wiU live 
through all time, it has been put down of precious few, but in these speculations I do not think I 
have ever heard or seen the name of Washington omitted. On the contrary, it seems to be 
conceded he will not only live as long as history itself does, but his name and fame will grow 
brighter as the years pass by." Augustus S. Garland {Arkansas). 

JULY THIRD. 

1775 George Washington, of Virginia, at nine o'clock in the morning drew 
his sword, and by the authority vested in him by the Continental Congress, 
took command of the American army, at Cambridge, Mass. This momentous 
event took place on the town common under a large tree, still standing and 
known as the "Washington Elm." 

1778 "To morrow (July 4th.) the anniversary of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, will be celebrated by the firing of a feu-de-joie of the whole line. 
The army will be formed on the Brunswick side of the Raritan, at five o'clock 
in the afternoon, on the ground pointed out by the Quartermaster-General." 
Orderly Book. 

1798 The Senate of the United States unanimously confirmed the appoint- 
ment made by President Adams of George Washington as Lieutenant-General 
and Commander-in-chief of the Provisional army. This occurred on the twenty- 
third anniversary of Washington's taking command of the Continental army 
for the establishment of American Independence. 



"Nature complimented herself when she created Washington." Lafayette. 

" Virginia gave us this imperial man. 
Cast in the massive mould 
Of those high-statured ages old 
Which into grander forms our mortal metal ran ; 
She gave us this unblemished gentleman — 
What shall we give her back but love and praise ? " Lowell. 

"Washington is to my mind the purest figure in history." Gladstone. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 99 

JULY FOURTH. 

1754 Colonel Washington capitulated Fort Necessity, and was permitted by 
the French commandant to march out with his arms and men. The only 
pledge required was that for one year he would not erect defenses west of the 
mountains. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief issued his first order to the troops at Cam- 
bridge, in which he " hoped all distinction of Colonies would be laid aside." 

1777 General Washington announced, at Morristown, that this, the first 
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, should be celebrated by a feu- 
de-joie, and every soldier should be served with an extra gill of rum. 

1779 The anniversary of the Fourth of July was celebrated at New Wind- 
sor, N. Y., by the Commander-in-chief granting pardon to all prisoners under 
sentence of death. 

1848 The corner-stone of " The National Washington Monument " was laid 
with civic, military, and masonic ceremonies. 



" To Freedom Potomac's proud obelisk towers, " O Symbol of Liberty, matchless, sublime. 

And Karnak and Baalbec in beauty outvies, Still soar from the meadows to mate with 

For Washington's glory its grandeur em- the sun, 

powers, And see thy Republic to uttermost time, 

And Freedmen with joy piled its stones to The noble, the peerless, the Many in 

the skies ; One ! " 

Edna Dean Proctor {New Haynpshire). 

JULY FIFTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief having inspected the forts in the vicinity of 
Roxbury, and other points, expressed surprise and pleasure at the character of 
these defenses. He was given admirable drawings of the several positions occu- 
pied by the British, made by young John Trumbull, who had been a student at 
Harvard at the time these fortifications were being constructed. " The General 
most earnestly recommends & requires of all the Officers, that they be exceeding 
diligent and strict in preventing all Invasions and Abuse of private property in 
their quarters or elsewhere ; that it is unmanly and sully's the dignity of the 
great cause, in which we are all engaged, to violate that property he is called to 
protect, thus to add to the Distresses of those of their countrymen, who are suf- 
fering under the Iron hand of oppression." Orderly BooJc. 

1781 General Washington visited the French army at North Castle, and 
was welcomed with great enthusiasm. To Count de Rochambeau he compli- 
mented Due de Lauzun upon the rapid forced march on the 1st of that noble- 
man's command, the brilliant " Lauzun Legion," when ordered to support General 
Lincoln's intended attack on Forts Knjrphausen, Tryon, and George, on York 
Island. 



"This is not the moment to retrace in this Hall all that great man has done for the free- 
dom of America ; the number and importance of his warlike exploits ; the generous inspiration 
with which he animated the French who fought under him, and the sublime act by which he did 
eternal honor to his memory; when, after having contributed to give freedom to his country, he 
laid down aU authority — the supreme power — to hide his glory in the obscurity of private life." 

Felix Faulcon {France, 1800). 



100 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

JULY SIXTH. 

1775 The Colonial Congress, in the name of the United Colonies, proclaimed 
a declaration of war against Great Britain. Congress also adopted a resolution 
to levy supplies and provide men and money to meet the demands of the Com- 
mander-in-chief in the prosecution of this contest. 

1780 Washington wrote from Preakness to his brother-in-law, Fielding 
Lewis : " We neglected to obtain soldiers for the war when zeal and patriotism 
run high, and men were eager to engage for a trifle ; the consequence is we have 
protracted the war, and expended tens of millions of pounds which might have 
been saved, and have a new army to discipline once or twice a year." 

1791 President Washington returned to Philadelphia from his Southern 
tour, including a few days' repose at Mount Vernon. He was not only happy 
in the affectionate welcome he everywhere received, but most gratified by the 
patriotic zeal manifested among all classes. This was the longest absence during 
the eight years of his service as Chief Magistrate, he having been over three 
months away from the seat of government. 



" If Washington were now living in the United States, he would find the political atmo- 
sphere offensive and the political morality intolerable; that he would be so far superior to the 
motives and influences which prevail in the administration of the government as to be virtually 
isolated ; that he would steadily refuse to give pledges of party allegiance, or in any way to 
prostitute public trusts to private advantage, and least of all would reward corruption in 
elections with promotions or honors ; that he would hold unscrupulous and impertinent party 
'Bosses.'" Frederick D. Huntington, Bishop of New York. 

JULY SEVENTH. 

1775 "The General has great reason; and is highly displeased with the 
Negligence and Inattention of those Officers, who have placed as Centries, at the 
out-posts, men with whose Characters they are not acquainted. He therefore 
orders, that for the future, no Man shall be appointed to those important Sta- 
tions, who is not a Native of this Country, or has a wife or famUy in it to whom 
he is known to be attached." Orderly Booh {Cambridge). 

1778 The Congress in session at Yorktown, Pa., gave a vote of thanks to 
General Washington "for gaining the important victory at Monmouth." His 
old and faithful friend, Hon. Henry Laurens, president of Congress, wrote him : 
" Love and respect for your Excellency are impressed on the heart of every 
grateful American, and your name will be revered by posterity." 

1798 President Adams informed ex-President Washington that he had 
" sent the Secretary of War, Hon. James McHenry, to Mount Vernon to present 
his commission as " Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-chief of the Pro- 
visional Army," and regretted that he could not personally have had the pleasure 
of presenting it." It would have been a grateful task for the pen of history to 
have recorded such a visit. 



"In all his life's history Washington was a patriot and a lover of his country, but a lover of 
it through its union, its permanence, its strength. Washington's character and fame will never 
be disowned or dishonored by any part of this or any other nation. Other nations claim a share 
in the honor which shines on all the people of the world." 

William Maxwell Evarts (New York). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 101 

JULY EIGHTH. 

1755 Colonel Washington, in a covered wagon, overtook General Braddock 
on the eve of the memorable Monongahela engagement. Of his own condition 
he said : " On the 9th I attended him on horseback tho' very weak and low." 

1775 The British advance-guard was routed and driven back from its ap- 
proach on Roxbury. This was the first engagement after Washington took 
command, and he was much gratified by the bearing of the militia. The first 
council of war was held the following morning, '' in which it was unanimously 
determined to defend the posts as occupied, and that measures ought to be im- 
mediately taken to increase the army by recruits." 

1796 Washington having determined to recall the Minister to France, 
Secretary James Madison, offered the mission to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 
saying, " Policy requires that this character should be well attached to the gov- 
ernment of his own country and not obnoxious to the one to which he is sent to 
be essentially serviceable. Where then can a man be found that would answer 
this description better than yourself ! " 



"He was one who seemed to have been expressly formed by Providence for the mighty work 
of establishing the independence of a people, which may one day delight the philanthropist with 
the view of as great an assemblage of freemen, as Europe now contains of slaves. . . . No one 
ever passed through the ordeal of power and influence more free from the remotest suspicion of 
selfish and ambitious designs." British Register (1800). 

JULY NINTH. 

1755 The Battle of Monongahela was fought. This engagement began early 
in the morning with an ambush attack from the Indians. General Braddock 
having fallen, and all superior officers being either killed or disabled, Colonel 
Washington received the order for retreat from the wounded commander, and 
was able to execute this order by using his sturdy frontiersmen to protect the thin 
ranks of the regulars. Washington had two horses killed under him, and his 
escape seemed little less than miraculous. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief ordered ^' The Flag of the United Colonies," 
the emblem first raised at Prospect Hill, to be raised on the ramparts at New 
York, and the Declaration of Independence to be read at sunset to each 
brigade. The General said : " The Continental Congress, impelled by the dictates 
of duty, policy and necessity, have pleased to dissolve the connection which sub- 
sisted between this country and Great Britain, and declare the United Colonies 
of North America Free and Independent." 

1799 Washington signed and dated his will at Mount Vernon, which docu- 
ment is preserved in a glass case at Fairfax Court-House, Va. To five of his 
nephews he left his swords, saying, " These swords are accompanied with an in- 
junction not to unsheath them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be 
in self defense or in the defense of their country and ,its rights, and in the latter 
case to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands to the 
relinquishment thereof." 



" If virtue can secure happiness in another world, he is happy. In this, the seal is now put 
upon his glory. It is no longer in jeopardy from the fickleness of fortune." 

Alexander Hamilton (New York). 



102 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JULY TENTH. 



1776 After the reading of the Declaration of Independence, the excited 
soldiers tore down the statue of George III., corner of Greene Street and Broad- 
way, New York. This occurrence the Commander-in-chief made the subject of a 
special order: " Though the General does not doubt those who pulled down and 
mutilated the statue on Broadway last night were actuated by zeal in the public 
cause, yet it has so much the appearance of a riot aad want of order in the army, 
that he disapproves the manner, and directs that in the future these things shall 
be avoided by the soldiery and left to be executed by the proper authorities." 

1783 General "Washington wrote from Newburg to his lifelong friend, 
George William Fairfax, in London, on the happy termination of the Revolution, 
saying, " Which I can truly aver was not in the beginning premeditated ; but 
the result of dire necessity brought about by the persecuting spirit of the 
British Government." 

1787 Washington, a daily witness of the terrible sectional contest raging in 
the old hall, in a most discouraged mood expressed his fears to Hamilton regard- 
ing the probable results of the Constitutional Convention, saying, "I almost 
despair of seeing a favorable issue to the proceedings of our convention, and do 
therefore repent having any agency in the business." 



"Like the resurrection angel, Washington rolled back the stone from the sepulchre of rea- 
son, dissolved the cerements of slavery, and led forth America to sovereignty and independence." 

Joseph Story (Massachusetts). 

JULY ELEVENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief informed General Schuyler that "General 
Howe's fleet from Halifax has arrived, in number about one hundred and thirty 
sail. His army is between nine and ten thousand, being joined by some of the 
regiments from the West Indies, and having fallen in with part of the Highland 
troops in his passage. He has landed his men on Staten Island, which they 
mean to secure, and is in daily expectation of the arrival of Lord Howe with one 
hundred and fifty ships with a large and powerful reinforcement." 

1777 General Washington cautiously moved his army from Morristown in 
the direction of North River, anxiously watching General Howe's movements ; 
his purpose was to prevent Howe from cooperating with Burgoyne. He had 
just received the depressing news of General St. Clair's evacuation of Ticonderoga 
and Fort Independence, and of the disastrous engagement at Hubbardton. 

1779 The Commander-in-chief ordered General Parsons to report the num- 
ber of houses destroyed by the British in an expedition up the Sound, which 
investigation showed a destruction of nearly five hundred buildings in the 
towns of Fairfield and Norwalk, necessarily involving an immense amount of 
suffering, and intensified bitterness against the mother-country. 



"Whilst I do not begrudge America the inheritance of his fame, I cannot allow America a 
monopoly of his renown. George Washington belongs to patriotism, to civilization, and to 
heroism all the world over. He was a child of the larger history, not a mere unit in the develop- 
ment of a single nation." Joseph Parker, D. D. {England). 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 103 



JTJLY TWELFTH. 



1778 From Paramus, N. J., Washington acknowledged to Congress the 
honor conferred by the following resolution : '^ That the thanks of Congress be 
given to General Washington for the activity with which he marched from the 
Camp at Valley Forge in pursuit of the enemy ; for his distinguished exertions 
in forming the line of battle ; and for his great good conduct in leading on the 
attack and gaining the important victory at Monmouth over the British Grand 
Army under the command of General Sir H. Clinton, in their march from Phila- 
delphia to New York." 

1782 Washington left Newburg for Philadelphia to meet Rochambeau. To 
Colonel Laurens he had sent a pen-picture of the situation : " Sir Guy Carleton 
is using every art to soothe and lull our people into a state of security. Admiral 
Digby is capturing all our vessels, and suffocating all our seamen, who will not 
enlist into their service, as fast as possible, in Prison Ships ; and Haldimand (with 
his savage allies), is scalping and burning the frontiers." 

1798 James McHenry, Secretary of War, having reached Mount Vernon the 
previous evening with the commission of "Lieutenant-General and Commander- 
in-chief of the Provisional Army," had the pleasure this day of writing to 
President Adams the conditional acceptance of the office by General Washington. 



' ' Nature hath culled the best of Greece and Eome, 
And moulding all their virtues into one 
Gave to the infant world — a Washington." 

Martin Farquhar Tupper (England). 

JULY THIRTEENTH. 

1785 General Braddock expired in the evening, and at night, by torch-light. 
Colonel Washington read the " Burial Office " over his late commander. A 
wagon-road was made above the grave of the unfortunate officer, that the spot 
might not be discovered by desecrating Indians. His military training and ex- 
perience unfitted him for savage warfare, and here in the wilderness the gallant 
soldier, the elegant gentleman, the generous heart was left at rest — while the 
world has been slow to do justice to his memory. 

1776 To the Secret Committee of New York, Washington urged, " The ne- 
cessity of falling upon some measures to remove from the city and its environs 
persons of known disaffection and enmity to the cause of America. A suspicion 
that there are Ministerial agents among us, would justly alarm soldiers of more 
experience and discipline than ours." 

1798 General Washington inclosed to Colonel Alexander Hamilton a list of 
"Characters fit and proper to be employed" in the Provisional army, Hamil- 
ton's name heading the list, with the rank of Major-General. He added: " I 
have consented to embark once more on the boundless ocean of trouble and 
responsibility." 



"It is a satisfaction to reflect that when the demands ©f demoralized partisans poured in, 
that he should return to the political arena and lead them against his old comrades, the great 
man lay dead amid the garden where all the sunshine of his life was dialed in flowers and fruits 
and loving hearts." Moncure D. Conway ( Virginia). 



104 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JULY FOURTEENTH. 



1758 Washington wrote Colonel Bouquet: ''It gives me great pleasure to 
find you approve of the Indian dress I have put my men into. Caprice and 
whim had no share in causing of it; — 't is evident, I think, that soldiers in such 
a dress are better able to carry their provisions, are fitter for the active service 
we are engaged in, and less liable to sink under the fatigues of a long march." 

1775 " It is recommended both to Officers and Men to make themselves ac- 
quainted with the persons of all the Officers in General Command, and in the 
meantime, to prevent mistakes ; the General Officers and their Aides de Camp 
will be distinguished in the following manner. The Commander-in-chief by a 
light blue Ribband, worn across his breast, between his Coat and Waistcoat. 
The Majors and Brigadier Generals by a pink Ribband, worn in the like man- 
ner. The Aide de Camp by a green Ribband." Orderly Boole (Cambridge). 

1778 General Washington wrote a letter of welcome to Count d'Estaing 
upon his arrival at Sandy Hook with a fieet and four thousand men, sent 
through the immediate influence of Marie Antoinette, by " his most Christian 
Majesty, our great ally." He immediately suggested to that officer the inter- 
cepting of a provision fleet which had sailed from Cork with supplies for the 
British army. 



" How shall we rank thee upon Glory's page ? 
Thou more than soldier and just less than sage." 

Thomas Moore (Ireland). 

JULY FIFTEENTH. 

1761 Colonel Washington was convalescing, having been extremely low 
with fever at Mount Vernon, and his condition pronounced so critical that there 
was at one time little hope entertained of his life. Frequent and severe attacks 
of illness were the result of long and continued exposure in his years of frontier 
service. 

1772 " Went up in the afternoon with Mrs. Washington, Mr. J. P. Custis, 
Miss Custis and Miss Posey to a BaU in Alexandria, and lodged in my house in 
town." Washington's Diary. 

1784 At Mount Vernon, Washington replied to the address from the As- 
sembly of Virginia sent by a committee of that body, in regard to erecting a 
monument to his honor, saying, " Nothing can add more to the pleasure, which 
arises from a conscious discharge of public trust, than the approbation of one's 
country. To have been so happy, under a vicissitude of fortune, amidst the 
difficult and trying scenes of an arduous conflict, as to meet this, is, in my mind, 
to have attained the highest honor; and the consideration of it in my present 
peaceful retirement will heighten all my domestic joys, and constitute my greatest 
felicity." 



" The endearing charm of his character arises from the fact that, without possessing mental 
qualifications of extraordinary force or brilliancy, he habitually used the whole of what mind he 
had in discovering the right course. He had a genius for rectitude. There, indeed, he was ex- 
traordinary; perhaps unique among public men." James Parton {Missouri). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 105 

JULY SIXTEENTH. 

1780 General Washington acknowledged the Count de Rochambeau's de- 
spatches ; also the flattering personal opinion of Louis the XVI. ; and *' as a 
citizen of the United States, and as a soldier in the cause of liberty," gave a 
hearty welcome to the French general and the forces under him. Two days 
previous he had transmitted to the president of Congress, Samuel Huntington, 
the glorious news of the arrival of the French army on the tenth. He sent 
G-eneral Lafayette with a plan of operations for Count de Rochambeau and 
Chevalier de Ternay, and out of compliment to the allied army, requested that 
black-and-white cockades be adopted by the Continental troops. 

1782 Washington and Rochambeau, having met by appointment in Philadel- 
phia, agreed that the French army should leave Williamsburg, Va., and join the 
American forces on the Hudson. The previous evening the generals had at- 
tended the great fete given by the Marquis de la Luzerne, on the Dauphin's 
birthday, of which Dr. Rush wrote his wife: '' There were Washington, Rocham- 
beau, Morris, Paine, Duane, Rush, Indians, Quakers, in fact the world." 

1790 President Washington approved a bill locating a District of Territory, 
" not exceeding ten miles square, on the banks of the Potomac river, between 
the mouth of the Eastern Branch and the Conococheague for a permanent seat 
of Government." 



"The name and deeds of Washington will live so long as liberty has a votary, or freedom a 
friend." Hannibal Hamlin {Maine). 

JULY SEVENTEENTH. 

1776 In pursuance of a military order, the Declaration of Independence was 
read in front of Faneuil Hall, Boston. The Commander-in-chief wrote General 
Sullivan, urging him to continue in the army, and deploring the growing spirit 
of jealousy among officers. Washington notified Congress that under a flag 
of truce General Howe had, on the fourteenth, sent him a letter addressed to 
" George Washington, Esq.," which he refused to receive. Upon it being pre- 
sented to him, Washington said : " Sir, this letter is for a planter in Virginia." 
This action was indorsed by Congress. Adjutant-General Patterson bore a 
second letter from General Howe addressed to '' George Washington, Esq.," but 
that officer was so impressed with Washington's dignity that he did not offer to 
deliver it. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief arranged to cross North River with Generals 
Rochambeau, de Beville, Duportail, and other French officers to reconnoiter the 
British position at the north end of York Island, contemplating a second attack 
on the enemy's works at that point. Their escort was one hundred and fifty men 
of the Jersey troops. 



** Bom to high destinies, he was fashioned for them by the hand of nature. His form was 
noble. His port majestic. On his front was enthroned those virtues, which exalt, and those 
graces which adorn the human character. . . . He had every title at command, but his first vic- 
tory was over himself. To each desire he had taught the lesson of moderation. Prudence 
therefore became the companion of his Hfe." Gouverneur Morris {New York). 



106 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JULY EIGHTEENTH. 



1755 Colonel "Washington wrote Governor Dinwiddle the details of Brad- 
dock's defeat, saying, " The dastardly behavior of the Regular troops (so called), 
exposed those who were inclined to do their duty to almost certain death." 
From Governor Innes he had requested better accommodations, and transporta- 
tion, for Colonel Burton, Captain Orme, and Captain Roger Morris. He added : ** I 
doubt not but you have had an account of the poor General's death by some of 
the affrighted wagoners who ran off without taking leave." 

1774 At Alexandria, Colonel Washington presided over and was chief pro- 
moter of the famous meeting of the " Freeholders of Fairfax County," considered 
one of the most important initiatory movements of the approaching contest. 
Here resolutions embodying the sentiments of the Declaration of Independence 
were adopted. Washington was chosen delegate to present the same at Williams- 
burg, August the first, reminding the world — '* The Colony of Virginia is not a 
conquered country, and not the descendants of the conquered, but of conquerors." 

1775 *' The General hears with astonishment the very frequent applications, 
that are made to him, as well by Officers as Soldiers for Furloughs. Brave men 
who are engaged in the noble Cause of Liberty ; should never think of removing 
from their Camp, while the Enemy is in sight." Orderly Book {Cambridge). 



"Ambuscade was a favorite device in Indian warfare. It was in such a conflict that Brad- 
dock fell, and the young Washington won his first laurels." William Dorsheimer {New York). 

JULY NINETEENTH. 

1743 George Washington attended the marriage of his half-brother Law- 

rence, to Annie, daughter of William Fairfax, Esq., of Belvoir. This seat, nearly 

t -^posite Mount Vernon, was one of the most elegant on the Potomac, and noted 

for its generous hospitality. Soon after the beginning of the Revolution the 

mansion was destroyed by fire. 

1758 Colonel Washington wrote from Fort Cumberland thanking Colonel 
Bouquet for leave to attend the election for the House of Burgesses at Winches- 
ter, but declining the privilege. He was a candidate for the seat, and in his 
absence Colonel James Ward, the founder of the place, represented him, and 
wrote him : " I was carried round the town in the midst of a general applause 
and huzzaing for Colonel Washington." 

1782 Ten French officers whose regiment was halting at Colchester, Va., 
were invited by Mrs. Washington to dine at Mount Vernon. Count de CustiHC, 
in command, sent her that morning an elegant set of French China, the j)roduc- 
tion of his own factory at Pfalzburg, Lorraine, and ornamented with the initials 
and coat of arms of her husband. Pieces of this china are in the National 
Museum, Washington, D. C. 



" Blest with the most commanding figure, a dignity which forcibly impressed all beholders, 
a complacency of manners, a mind highly cultivated and stored with knowledge, and a military 
fame so honorably acquired; he seemed formed by nature for great and glorious deeds, and 
pointed out by the hand of Deity, — to America, as the revolutionary chief." 

Chinning Bedford (Delaware). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. . 107 

JULY TWENTIETH. 

1758 The only known letter to his fiancee Washington wrote from Fort 
Cumberland : 

" We have begun our march for the Ohio. A courier is starting for Williams- 
burg, and I embrace the opportunity to send a few words to one whose life is 
now inseparable from mine. Since that happy hour when we made our pledges 
to each other, my thoughts have been continually going to you as to another 
self. That an All Powerful Providence may keep us both in safety is the prayer 
of your ever faithful & Ever affectionate Friend, 

" To Maktha Custis. Gr°. Washington." 

1775 '' The General orders this day to be religiously observed by the Forces 
under his Command, exactly in manner directed by the Continental Congress. 
It is therefore strictly enjoin'd on all Officers and Soldiers, to attend Divine 
Service ; and it is expected, that all those who go to worship, do take their 
Arms, Ammunition and Accoutrements, & are prepared for immediate action if 
called upon." Orderly Book {Cambridge). 

1780 " The Commander-in-chief has the pleasure to congratulate the army 
on the arrival of a large land and naval armament at Rhode Island, sent by his 
Most Christian Majesty, the King of France, to co-operate with the troops of 
these states against the common enemy, accompanied with every circumstance 
that can render it honorable and useful." 



" No nobler figure ever stood in the fore front of a nation's life." 

John Richard Green, LL. D. {England). 

JXTLY TWENTY-FIRST. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief ordered the removal of Harvard students to 
Concord, a less exposed point, and took possession of the buildings. He had the 
news of Sullivan's brilliant victory on Long Island read in camp. From John 
Hancock, Washington received a letter asking for service ; that devoted patriot 
said: "If it be to take the firelock and join the army as a volunteer." He was 
animated by the same spirit as the bra' Scot at Williamsburg the previous year 
who called out : " Hugh Mercer will serve his adopted country and the cause of 
Liberty in any rank or station in which he may be appointed." 

1779 General Washington established his headquarters near West Point, at 
the residence of John Moore (a merchant of New York). At this post he re- 
mained for four months. During this period the strong works were constructed ; 
twenty-five hundred men were often daily on fatigue duty. The right wing of 
the army was under Putnam, the left under Heath, and the garrison commanded 
by McDougal. 

1791 To David Humphreys the President wrote : " I cannot see much pros- 
pect.of living in tranquility with the Indians, so long as the spirit of land job- 
bing prevails, and our frontier settlers entertain the opinion, that there is not 
the same crime in killing an Indian, as in killing a white man." 



" He was one of those rare specimens of humanity in whom nearly all the mental organs 
are largely developed, and in harmonious proportions. Such a combination produces a charac- 
ter distinguished for mental power in all directions." George Combe (England). 



108 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JULY TWENTY-SECOND. 

1749 George Washington, aged seventeen years and five months, was ap- 
pointed Surveyor of Culpeper County, Va., receiving the commission upon cer- 
tificates from the president and masters of "William and Mary College. In his 
first official signature, '^ Washington, S. C. C," made this day, he doubtless ex- 
perienced a true boy's appreciation of its importance, and more conscious gratifi- 
cation than later he felt in placing his name on the most important military 
order or state document. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief made three divisions of his troops, placing 
Major-General Artemus Ward, at Roxbury, in command of the right ; Major- 
General Charles Lee, Winter and Prospect Hills, the left ; and Major-General 
Israel Putnam, Cambridge, the center. 

1782 General Washington in Philadelphia wrote to Mrs. Richard Stockton, 
nie Annis Boudinot : " Your favor of the 17th conveying to me your * Pastoral ' 
on the subject of Lord Cornwallis' capture has given me great satisfaction. I 
have only to lament that the hero of your '■ Pastoral' is not more deserving of 
your pen ; but the circumstances will be placed among the happy events of my 
life." 



" History records many names that dazzle tlie imagination with a greater brilliancy, hut 
few, indeed, that shine with so pure a light, steady, permanent, penetrating and serene. Wash- 
ington's character and reputation, as contrasted with many other famous men, seem to re- 
semble in effect the Doric architecture as compared with Gothic and Oriental styles." 

Richard Hildreth (Massachusetts). 

JULY TWENTY-THIRD. 

1775 General Washington wrote General John Thomas urging him not to 
resign: " I admit, that your just claims and services have not had due respect. — 
Worthy men of all nations and countrys have had reasons to make the same 
complaint, but they did not for this abandon the public cause, they nobly stifled 
the dictates of resentment, and made their enemy's ashamed of their injustice. 
For the sake of your bleeding country, your devoted Province, your charter 
rights, I conjure you to banish from your mind every suggestion of anger and 
disappointment; your country will do ample justice to your merits." 

1776 The following gratifying resolution was unanimously approved : Re- 
solved, " That General Washington be informed that Congress have such an 
entire confidence in his judgement, that they will give him no particular direc- 
tions about the disposition of the troops, but desire that he will dispose of those 
at New York, the Flying Camp, and Ticonderoga as to him shall seem most con- 
ducive to the public good." 

1796 The British minister, Robert Liston, with his wife, and the Hon. Henry 
Murray Stuart, second son of the Earl of Bute, were on a visit of several days to 
President and Mrs. Washington at Mount Vernon. 



" Brave Washington arrives, 
Arrayed in warlike fame, 
While in his soul revives 



" Great Marlb'ro's martial flame 
To lead your conquering armies on 
To lasting glory and renown." 

Song {New York, 1776). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY 109 



JULY TWENTY-FOURTH. 



1758 Colonel G-eorge "Washington, on hearing of his election to the House of 
Burgesses, wrote Colonel James Wood : " I am extremely thankful to you and my 
other friends for entertaining the Freeholders in my name. I hope no Exception 
was taken to any that voted against me, but all were alike treated and all had 
enough. It is what I much desired. My only fear is that you spent with too 
sparing a hand." 

1777 The Commander-in-chief having left Galloway's old log-house, where 
he had '' lodged in a bed and his military family on the floor about him," estab- 
lished his headquarters at Ramapo. He received an intercepted letter from 
Howe to Burgoyne announcing his intention of sailing eastward. This convinced 
Washington that the objective point was Philadelphia, in which he was not mis- 
taken. To this place he immediately ordered two di\'isions, and the entire army 
followed at once. 

1778 To Henry Laurens, Washington wrote : " It is very pleasing to hear 
that prizes are already finding their way into the Delaware. The event seems 
the more agreeable, as that na\dgation, but yesterday as it were, could scarcely 
contain the enemy's fleet and their numerous captures which were constantly 
crowding in. Happy change." 



" I must confess that but few men of humanity can lay claim to such a cult as George 
Washington, the intellectual and moral Christopher Columbus of Saint Liberty. Of course he 
■was greater than Napoleon I., much more amiable than Cromwell, and realized at the utmost that 
which old Greece used to call Kalokagathos — kind-hearted." Hans Von Bulow (Saxony). 

JULY TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1758 Colonel Washington wrote his superior officer, Colonel Bouquet : " I 
shall most cheerfully work on any road, pursue any route ; or enter upon any 
service, that the General or yourself may think me usefully employed in, or quali- 
fied for ; and shall never have a will of my own when a Duty is required of me." 

1782 General Washington, accompanied by Colonel Trumbull and Major 
Walker, passed two days at the '^ Sun Inn," in the Moravian village of Bethlehem. 
He attended their services, listened to a sermon from brother Ettwein, and took 
this occasion to express his obligations for their kindness in nui'sing his wounded, 
especially to the good sister who had nursed his dear friend Lafayette. 

1788 Washington, from Mount Vernon, vsrote to Mathew Carey, appro^dng 
of " The Museum," and gi\'ing his opinion in regard to the benefits of such publi- 
cations. '' For myself I have a high idea of the utility of periodical publications, 
in so much that I could heartily desire copies of the ' Museums,' and magazines, 
as well as common gazettes, might be spread through every city, town and \411age 
in America ; and I consider such easy vehicles of knowledge more happily cal- 
culated than any other to preserve the liberty, stimulate the industry and melior- 
ate the morals of an enlightened and free people." 



"Washington was too far seeing as a statesman not to perceive that true liberty must rest 
on the basis of popular education." Annie Alido Abrahams {New York). 



110 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



JULY TWENTY-SIXTH. 



1752 Major Lawrence Washington died at Mount Vernon, the plantation 
inherited from his father. He was in His Britannic Majesty's service, and in 1743 
built and named his home on the Potomac after his superior officer Admiral 
Vernon. His only surviving child, a delicate infant daughter, lived but a few 
months ; this estate, by his will, then descended to his half-brother George. 

1755 Colonel Washington reached Mount Vernon from the Braddock cam- 
paign. From Fort Cumberland to his brother John Augustine, he wrote : '^ I have 
heard a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech. I take this early 
opportunity of contradicting the first, and assuring you that I have not as yet 
composed the latter." 

1775 The Commander-in-chief most heartily welcomed to Cambridge several 
companies of Virginia sharp-shooters under Colonel Thompson. Captain Daniel 
Morgan was commander of one company. These troops had marched six hundred 
miles through the wilderness, in twenty-eight days. The men wore the frontier 
costumes of undressed buckskin with coonskin caps and capes, the style which 
is recognized as " a la Daniel Boone." 

1788 The State of New York adopted the Federal Constitution. 



"Many as are the heroic traits and lovable characteristics of the immortal Washington, 
none is so worthy of unbounded praise as his firm and unswerving devotion to public duty, his 
urbane bearing and kindly consideration towards those whom rank had placed beneath him ; his 
modesty of personal demeanor, and, last and greatest of all, that grand republican spirit which 
made him spurn the thought of personal dictatorship or crowned royalty." 

Hugo Muench, President North American Turnerhund. 

JULY TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1775 General Washington wrote his brother : " I found the enemy in posses- 
sion of a place called Bunkei*'s Hill, strongly intrenched and fortifying them- 
selves. I found part of our army on two hiUs, called Winter and Prospect Hills, 
about a mile and a quarter from the enemy in a very insecure state. I found 
another part of the army at Cambridge, and a third part at Roxburj'^ guarding 
the entrance in and out of Boston." 

1780 From Preakness, the Commander-in-chief informed Lafayette, '' Mr. 
Clinton still continues to threaten your countrymen with a combined attack. I 
have put the troops here under marching orders, and I have ordered those at 
West Point to King's Ferry. If Clinton moves in force to Rhode Island, we may 
possibly be able to take advantage of it." 

1789 This day Congress created the department of foreign affairs; the 
name was changed on September 15th to the Department of State. The Presi- 
dent, in declining to give his nephew Bushrod Washington an office, wrote, in 
addition to other reasons : " My political conduct in nominations, even if I were 
uninfluenced by principles must be exceedingly circumspect and proof against 
just criticism ; for no slip will pass unnoticed that can be improved into a sup- 
posed partiality for friends, or relations." 



"In modem times, Washington, I believe, was the greatest man, and next to him, William 
the Third." Sir Henry Grattan (England). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. Ill 

JULY TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief, from Cambridge, confided to Major-G-eneral 
Schuyler, that, " Confusion and disorder reigned in every department, which, in 
a little time, must have ended either in the separation of the army or fatal con- 
tests with one another. The better genius of America has prevailed, and most 
happily the Ministerial troops have not availed themselves of their advantages, 
till I trust the opportunity has in a great measure passed over." 

1791 To Gouverneur Morris the President said : " In my late tour through the 
southern states, I experienced great satisfaction in seeing the good effects of the 
general government in that part of the Union. The farmer, the merchant, and 
the mechanic have seen their several interests attended to, and they unite in 
placing confidence in their representatives. Industry has there taken place of 
idleness, and economy of dissipation." 

1795 The President, from Mount Vernon, replied to the protest of the " Select- 
men of Boston," against the ratification of the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. 
After expressing appreciation of their views, and thanking them for their confi- 
dence, he with dignity declared his determination, adding : '' The Constitution is 
the guide which I can never abandon." 



"Attachment to you as well as to my country urges me to pray that you will not leave the 
work unfinished. Remain with us at least while the storm lasts, and until you can retire like the 
sun in a calm unclouded evening. May every blessing here and hereafter attend you." 

John Jay, Chief Justice U. S. Supreme Court (1796). 

JULY TWENTY-NINTH. 

1757 Colonel Washington, in his instructions to all the captains of compa- 
nies, said : " Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formi- 
dable ; procures success to the weak, and esteem to aU ; and may in a peculiar 
manner to us, who are in the way to be joined to Regulars in a very short time, 
and of distinguishing thro' this means, from other Provincials." 

1780 The Commander-in-chief continued to make every apparent prepara- 
tion to attack New York. He ordered his troops to march from Preakness to 
Paramus, which in the extreme heat gi*eatly overcame them. His purpose was 
to prevent General Clinton from moving on the Allies at Newport, for which ex- 
pedition some of the British troops had already embarked. These manoeuvers 
were successful, and caused the British general, much to the relief of the Con- 
tinentals, and the amusement of European spectators, to countermand his orders 
and retain his army in New York. 

1781 General Washington divulged to Lafayette, who was in command in 
Virginia, the reason of the movement of the two armies about New York, which 
was to induce the enemy to recall their troops from the South. " Our views 
must now be turned towards endeavoring to expel them totally from those 
states, if we find ourselves incompetent for the siege of New York." 



" The fame of Washington is enshrined in the existence and grows with the growth of youi 
great republic." Sir Frederick Leighton {England). 



112 GEOKGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

JULY THIRTIETH. 

1775 Colonel Joseph Trumbull, whom the Commander-in-chief had placed 
on his staif three days before, was made commissary-general. He appointed 
William Tudor, Esq., first judge advocate of the army, and ordered that he be 
so recognized and obeyed. Washington wrote to his brother Samuel that, in 
regard to the British success at Bunker Hill, " a few more such victories will 
destroy their army and put an end to the present contest." 

1777 The Commander-in-chief crossed the Delaware River, marching on 
Philadelphia. At Coryell's Ferry, N. J., he halted the army, expecting advices of 
the British fleet entering Delaware Bay. To General Gates he wrote : " General 
Howe in a manner abandoning General Burgoyne is so unaccountable a matter ; 
that, 'till I am fully assured it is so, I cannot help casting my Eyes continually 
behind me.'" 

1779 At West Point, Washington, in wi'iting to General Wayne, expressed 
his belief in the information received of the sailing of Admiral Arbuthnot from 
Torbay, with seven thousand Hessian and British troops. He also announced 
the arrival from England of Lord Cornwallis, who had been absent six months, 
on account of the illness and death of his wife ; he held this British general in 
high esteem as an officer and a man. 



" Long as the everlasting hills endure, " Long as that Orb creates Aurora's dawn, 

Long as old Ocean beats the rock-bound shore, Long as the constellations gem the sky, 
Long as the planets by the Sun are drawn, Thy name, Great Washington, will never die." 

William Williams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (Connecticut). 

JULY THIRTY-FIRST. 

1776 Washington informed Congress that he was engaged in the construc- 
tion of a " Fire ship." He suggested that the uniform for a portion of the army 
be " Hunting shirts with long Breeches made of the same cloth, and Gaiter fashion 
about the Legs," and said : " No dress can be had cheaper or more convenient, 
as the wearer may be cool in warm weather. Besides which ; it is a dress which 
is justly supposed to carry no small terror to the enemy, who think every such 
person a complete marksman." 

1777 At Coryell's the Commander-in-chief was notified by Congress that the 
British fleet of two hundred and twenty-eight sail was off the capes of Delaware ; 
he immediately left for Philadelphia, to which point the main body of his army 
was marching by way of the Old York Road. Washington devoted two days to 
an examination of the defenses of the Delaware. Congress on this day commis- 
sioned Marquis de Lafayette major-general in the Continental army. 

1787 "Whilst Mr. Morris was fishing I rid over the old cantonment of the 
American (army) of the winter 1777 & 8, visited all the Works, wch were in 
Ruins ; and the Incampments in woods where the ground had not been cultivated. 
On my return to Mrs. Moores I found Mr. Robt. Morris and his lady there." 
Washington's Diary {Philadelphia). 

"If the title of great man should be awarded to those who, in diflacult situations, perform 
highest duties most beneficially to their country, and most in accord with the rules of wisdom, 
no character of ancient history, none of modem times, has been more worthy than Washington 
of that noble name." Marquis Francois de Barbe-Marbois {France). 




AUGUST FIRST. 

1774 Colonel Washington notes in his diary: "Went from Colonel Bassetts 
to Williamsburg to the meeting of the Convention ; Dined at Mrs. Campbells 
spent ye evening at my Lodgings.'' At this convention, which met in the Apollo 
room, Raleigh Tavern, he presented the famous memorial of the '' Freeholders 
of Fairfax County." Washington said in an eloquent speech, when discussing the 
raising of troops: "I will equip one thousand men, subsist them at my own ex- 
pense, and march at once to the relief of Boston." 

1779 The Commander-in-chief wrote to Edmund Randolph of Virginia: 
" From what causes it proceeds I shall not undertake to say, but so the fact is, 
we are laboring under the effects of two of the greatest evils that can befall a 
state of war, a reduced army at the beginning of a campaign, which more than 
probably is intended for a decisive one, and want of money ; or rather a redun- 
dency of it, by which it is become of no value." 

1780 From Peekskill, General Washington wrote to Lafayette : ''We are thus 
far, dear Marquis, on our way to New York. To-morrow the whole army was to 
have taken up its line of march, and would have moved with all the rapidity in 
our power to this place, had we not a few hours since advice from the sound, 
dated yesterday, that the fleet of transports (of the enemy) had put back and 
were steering Westward." Washington congratulated himself that " Newport 
had been protected without the firing of a gun." 

1782 General Sir Guy Carleton, officially informed General Washington 
that " Mr. Laurens has been some time in perfect freedom and had declared that 
he considered Lord Cornwallis as exchanged." 



7 



"On the whole his character was in its mass perfect; in nothing bad, in few points in- 
different ; and it may be truly said that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly 
to make a man great, and to place him in the same constellation with whatever worthies have 
merited from man an everlasting remembrance. For his was the singular merit and destiny of 
leading the army of his country successfully through an arduous war for the establishment of 
its independence, of conducting its councils through the birth of a government new in its form 
and principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly train ; and of scrupulously 
obeying the laws through the whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history of the 
world furnishes no other example. . . . Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was 
prudence, never acting until every cireimistanee, every consideration was maturely weighed ; 
refraining if he saw a doubt, but when once decided, going through with his purpose whatever 
obstacles opposed. . . . His integrity was pure, his justice the most inflexible I ever knew." 

Thomas Jefferson ( Virginia). 
8 113 



114 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



AUGUST SECOND. 



1755 Washington wrote his brother Augustine : " So little am I dispirited 
by what has happened, I am always ready and willing to render my country any 
services I am capable of, but never upon such terms as I have done, having 
suffered very much in my private fortune besides impoverishing one of the best 
of constitutions." 

1757 Colonel Washington advised Governor Dinwiddle, liquor had to be 
supplied to the Indians, and " that they would not eat salt meat, but killed fresh 
wherever game was to be found." In regard to '' two deserters and great vil- 
lians " : ^' Your honor will, I hope, excuse my hanging instead of shooting them. 
It conveyed much more terror to others, and it was for examples sake that we 
did it." 

1777 At a public dinner in Philadelphia, Washington first met the Marquis 
de Lafayette, who, though not yet twenty, was major-general in the Erench and 
Continental armies. He thanked the young Frenchman for the zeal shown "in 
leaving France and his bride to assist the cause of America," and at once re- 
ceived him into his military family as well as into his heart and confidence. 
Their sudden attachment had a flavor of romance, and their relations were like 
unto that of father and son. 



"Although Washington was surrounded by officers and citizens, it was impossible to mistake 
for a moment his majestic figure and deportment ; nor was he less distinguished by the noble 
affability of his manner." Lafayette. 

AUGUST THIRD. 

1775 The Commander-in-chiefs anxiety amounted to consternation upon the 
discovery, at Cambridge, that his powder-supply was so small — only a half-pound 
to a man. General Sullivan said : " Washington was so struck that he did not 
utter a word for a half hour." 

1776 " The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked 
practice of profane swearing, a vice hitherto but little known in an American 
army, is growing into fashion. He hopes the ofl&cers will by example, as well as 
influence, endeavor to check it, and that both they and the men -wall reflect that 
we can have but little hope of the blessing of heaven on our arms if we insult it 
by our impiety and folly. Added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without 
any temptation, that every man] of sense and character detests and despises it." 
Orderly Book {New York). 

1780 Washington, after several requests from General Arnold, ordered him 
to the command of " the West Point and its dependencies," embracing the flower 
of the Continental army, massed ready to march into the Jerseys. 



"While Plenty decks Columbia's plains, "Through his whole life no blemish could be 

Where'er the voice of fame is heard, found, 

While love of Liberty remains, From stern integrity he never swerv'd, 

Washington shall be revered. He honored openly the God he serv'd. 

With deathless laurels were his temples To us who mourn he has example given 

bound, And made more bright the path which leads 

to Heaven." 

Susanna Bowson {England). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 115 



AUGUST FOURTH. 



1775 General Washington thanked Governor Trumbull for the "New 
Levies," fourteen hundred recruits sent by Connecticut. This was a gi*eat en- 
com-agement to the General and the anny, especially as the Governor's two sons 
were among the volunteers. Washington attached both to his staff, and they 
proved to be valuable officers. " New Levies " was the term applied to the sec- 
ond supply of troops fm-nished by the Colonial governors. 

1778 In importuning Congress to make some important changes, the Com- 
mander-in-chief commended, in unmeasured terms, the administration of Gen- 
eral Greene, quartermaster-general, and of Colonel Wadsworth, commissary- 
general. Ephriam Blaine Esq., of Pennsylvania had the year before succeeded 
Mr. Buchanan as " Commissary-General of Pui'chases " ; but in truth there was 
little produced to be purchased — the plowshare had been turned into the sword. 

1787 Washington while presiding over the Constitutional Convention en- 
joyed a couple of days' recreation with a fishing-party at the Trenton Works, 
and notes: ''In the morning & between breakfast and dinner fished again with 
more success, (for perch), than yesterday. Dined at Genl. Philemon Dicken- 
son's on the east side of the river, a little above Trenton, & returned in the even- 
ing to Colo. Ogden's." 

"It will be the duty of the Historian and the Sage in all ages to omit no occasion of com- 
memorating this illustrious man ; and until time shaU be no more will a test of the progress 
which our race has made in wisdom and in virtue be derived from the veneration paid to the im- 
mortal name of Washington." Lord Brougham (England). 

AUGUST FIFTH. 

1756 Colonel Washington wrote to the Speaker of the House of Burgesses: 
" Our soldiers complain that their pay is insufficient even to furnish shoes, shirts, 
stockings &c which their officers, in order to keep them fit for duty, oblige them 
to provide. This, they say obliges them to drag through a disagreeable service, 
in the most disagreeable manner." 

1774 In the ApoUo room, Raleigh Tavern, at the WOhamsbm-g Convention, 
Commissioners were this day selected by ballot to attend the General Congress to 
meet at Philadelphia in September, and it was resolved that one thousand pounds 
be raised by subscription, in the several counties, to defray the expenses of these 
gentlemen. Those chosen were Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick 
Henry, George Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, and George 
Washington. 

1783 Washington returned to Newburg from his torn- with Governor Clinton 
through the northern part of New York, having traveled 750 miles in nineteen 
days. They visited Saratoga, Fair Chapel, Lake George, Freeburg, Arm Point, 
Schenectady, and Fort Stanwix (Oriskany). In conjunction with the Governor he 
made an effort to buy a large tract of land at Saratoga, being greatly pleased 
with its waters, and at that early day predicted the brilliant future of the now 
celebrated springs. 

" George Washington always seemed to me our best example of pure character, our finest 
illustration of the power of 'disciplined will.' Other men have had more genius, a deeper in- 
sight into causes, a clearer perception of the meaning of events, but for loyalty to conviction, 
for incorruptible integrity, for single-hearted fidelity to conscience, he stands peerless." 

Oetavius E. Frothingham, D. D. (Massachusetts). 



116 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



AUGUST SIXTH. 



1777 Washington v*^rote his brother from German town : " Since General 
Howe's remove from the Jerseys, the troops under my command have been more 
harassed by marching, and countermarching than by any thing that has hap- 
pened to them in the course of the campaign. The fatigue, and injury which 
men must sustain by long marches in such extreme heat, must keep us quiet, till 
we hear something of the destination of the enemy." This day was fought the 
battle of Oriskany (Fort Stanwix), where the Stars and Stripes was unfurled for 
the first time over a field of battle, and where fell the dauntless Herkimer. 

1779 Governor Henry Hamilton having capitulated to a Virginia detach- 
ment, which had marched through the wilderness, and invested Fort St. Vin- 
cent, was taken as a prisoner to Richmond. The council of Virginia decided 
that as he had been guilty of exciting the Indians to deeds of cruelty, he was a 
proper subject of retaliation. Governor Jefferson submitted the question to the 
Commander-in-chief, who replied that Hamilton, having capitulated, could not, 
according to the usages of war, be subjected to any uncommon severity. 



" When Freedom, from her mountain height, "And striped its pure celestial white 
Unfurled her standard to the air, With streakings of the morning light; 

She tore the azure robe of night, Then from his mansion in the sun, 

And set the stars of glory there! She called her eagle bearer down, 

She mingled with its gorgeous dyes And gave into his mighty hand 

The milky baldric of the skies, The symbol of her chosen land!" 

Joseph Rodman Drake {Ne%v Yorlc). 

AUGUST SEVENTH. 

1776 General Washington, having learned through deserters that General 
CUnton and Lord Cornwallis had arrived from South Carolina with 4,000 troops 
and landed on Staten Island, thus massing the British forces, said : " The disgrace 
of the British arms at the southward, and the season being far advanced, will make 
them exert every nerve against us in this quarter. We are to oppose an army 
of 30,000 experienced veterans, with about one third the number of raw troops, 
and these scattered some fifteen miles apart." 

1783 Congress resolved, '• That an equestrian statue of General Washington 
shall be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established. 
That the statue be executed by the best artist in Europe, under the superintendence 
of the Minister of the United States at the Court of Versailles, and that money 
to defray the expense be furnished from the treasury of the United States." The 
Washington National Monument was the result of this act. 

1789 The Department of War and of the Navy was created, and they con- ^ 
tinned under one head until 1798. The first cabinet officer nominated by the 
first President was General Henry Knox, who on September 12th was confirmed. 



"Serene, majestic, like thyself, he firmly "Of patriot tried and true, of soldier, and of 

stood, sage. 

Immovable, tho' storms of hate did round him Tho' oft thy sun-lit brow gleams like the driven 

rage ; snow, 

On truth's foundation fixed, embodied every Yet round his peerless head there rests a 

good brighter glow." 

Alexander Barnes {Minnesota). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 117 



AUGUST EIGHTH. 



1775 "It has been intimated to the General, that some of&cers, under pre- 
tence of giving furloughs to men recovering from sickness, send them to work 
upon their farms for their own private emolument, at the same time that the 
public is taxed with their pay, if not with theu* provisions. He will show no 
favor to any officer who shall be found guilty of such iniquitous practices ; but 
will do his utmost endeavors to bring them to exemplary punishment, and the 
disgrace due to such mal-conduct." Orderly Book {Cambridge), 

1776 The Commander-in-chief, when told of an outbreak in the Pennsylvania 
troops, said : *' I have placed so much confidence in the spirit and zeal of the As- 
sociated Troops of Pennsylvania, that I cannot persuade myself an impatience to 
return home, or a less honorable motive will defeat my well grounded expecta- 
tions." This strong appeal, and the example given by that stanch German- 
American Christopher Ludwig, for a time quieted the disaffected men. 



" Thou, Washington, art all the world's, the Continents entire— not yours alone, America; 
Europe's as well, in every part, castle of lord, or laborer's cot, 
Or frozen North, or sultry South — the Arab's in his tent — the African's ; 
Old Asia's there with venerable smile, seated amid her ruins ; 

Greets the antique the hero new 'tis but the same — the heir legitimate continued ever, 
The indomitable heart and arm — proofs of the never-broken line. 

Wherever Freedom, poised by Toleration, swayed by Law, 

Stands, or is rising thy true monument." Walt Whitman {New Jersey). 

AUGUST NINTH. 

1780 The army arrived at Tappan, or Orangetown, as the little village, des- 
tined to be so widely kno^vn, was then called. The General occupied the De Wint 
House, a quaint old Dutch homestead, still standing. To Mrs. Esther Reed, he 
expressed a fear that the " two hard dollars which was sent to soldiers wrapped 
in each shirt, would produce discontent, as, they had only depreciated paper 
money for theii* pay." 

1791 To General William Moultrie, of Charleston, President Washington 
wrote : " My health may be ultimately improved by my torn- through the South- 
ern states, my happiness has certainly been promoted by the excursion, and cer- 
tainly nowhere in a greater degree than while a resident among my fellow citi- 
zens of South Carolina." 

1795 The President started to the seat of government, his visit to Mount 
Vernon being interrupted by the excitement arising from the Jay Treaty with 
Great Britain. This was the first fight of magnitude upon a constitutional ques- 
tion, and upon arriving in Philadelphia Washington found addresses, messages, 
and protests against the Treaty awaiting his consideration ; but notwithstanding 
this opposition, he approved of it on the 18th. 



" Washington did the two greatest things which in politics it is permitted man to attempt. 
He maintained by peace the independence of his country which he conquered by war. He 
founded a free government in the name of the principles of order and by re-establishing their 
sway. . . . He deserved and enjoyed both success and repose. Of all great men he was the 
most virtuous and most fortunate. In this world God has no higher favor to bestow." 

Guizot {France). 



118 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

AUGUST TENTH. 

1777 The Commander-in-chief notified Congress : " I have thought it advis- 
able to remove the army back to Coryell's where it will be near enough to succor 
Philadelphia, and will be so much more conveniently situated to proceed to the 
Northward." General Lafayette, on the 8th, witnessed for the first time a re- 
view of the Continental army. He said : " Despite the disadvantages the soldiers 
were fine, and the officers zealous ; virtue stood in place of science, and each day 
added both to experience and discipline." 

1789 President Washington sent his thanks through Messrs. Watson and 
Cassoul to a sisterhood at Nantes for an elegant masonic apron which the nuns 
had transmitted through these merchants. It was exquisitely embroidered with 
French and American flags intertwining fraternal emblems. He admired "its 
superior expressive style," and to the gentlemen wrote : " For your affectionate 
vows, permit me to be grateful, and offer mine for true brothers in all parts of 

the world." 

1794 The President had on the 7th issued a proclamation to the insurgents 
in western Pennsylvania who organized the Whisky Rebellion, warning them 
" to desist from their opposition to the Laws." To-day he said in regard to this 
rebellion : " If a minority is to dictate to the majority there is an end put at one 
stroke to republican government," 



" That great man of yours, George, was a monstrous bore; George was Oliver [Cromwell] 
with all the juice squeezed out." Carlyle {Scotland). 

AUGUST ELEVENTH. 

1780 The Commander-in-chief notified General Arnold of his decision to for- 
tify Dobbs Ferry, and said : " That we may be enabled to finish them in the most 
expeditious manner, you will be pleased to order sixty of Colonel Baldwin's Ar- 
tificers to come immediately down here." 

1782 Sir Guy Carleton advised Washington that negotiations for peace had 
begun in Paris. The first condition was that the " Independency of the Thirteen 
Colonies would be assured." Washington wrote from Newburg to the Secretary 
of War : " Having been informed that Major-General Gates is in Philadelphia, 
and being now about to make my ultimate an-angements for the campaign I take 
the liberty to request, whether he wished to be employed in this army or not." The 
General ordered a service stripe to be worn on the arm, the same color as the 
soldiers' corps, and an additional stripe for each succeeding year of service. 

1790 President Washington, in a letter from New York, thanked Lafayette 
for the key of the Bastile, and congratulated him upon the fortitude and address 
with which he had steered himself through the rocks and quicksands of the 
French Revolution. In a postscript he added : " Not for the value of the thing, my 
dear Marquis, but as a memorial and because they are the manufacture of this 
city, I send you a pair of shoe buckles." 



" Future generations will bathe in the light of his influence and not only will their praises 
hail him the first of men, hut they will also rank him among the mightiest of Captains." 

John Griffin, University of Virginia. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 119 



AUGUST TWELFTH. 



1776 General Washington ordered all badges of distinction on soldiers and 7 
non-commissioned officers to be removed, and thereafter bestowed only where 
the term of service had been uninteiTupted and the record unspotted. * Wash- 
ington wrote from New York to the president of Congress: "The enemy have 
made no movements of consequence. They have not been joined by the re- 
mainder of the fleet with the Hessian troops. The Convention of this State have 
been exerting themselves to call forth a portion of their militia." The conven- 
tion ordered " that each man, who shall not have arms, shall bring with him a 
shovel, spade, pick-ax, or a scythe straightened and fixed on a pole." 

1783 When Congress called Washington to Princeton, he wrote Governor 
Clinton : "As this will remove me to a distance, and may for a considerable time 
separate us and prevent frequent interviews ; I should be much obliged to you for 
intimating to me, before I go, what will be necessary for me to do respecting our 
purchase of the Saratoga Springs." 

1786 Major Duplessis, en route for Georgia, stopped for a visit of a few days 
at Mount Vernon. This French officer, whom General Washington early in the 
war had commended to Congress for gallantry in the field, was all the more wel- 
come, bearing, as he did, letters from Lafayette. 

" High over all whom mignt or mind made "Yet with a will to meet and master Fate, 
great, And skill to rule a young divided State, 

Yielding the conqueror's crown to harder Greater by what was not than what was done, 
hearts, Alone on history's height stands Washington." 

Exalted not by politicians' arts, Eichard Grant White {New York). 

AUGUST THIRTEENTH. 

1756 Colonel Washington from the frontier wrote Governor Dinwiddle : "If 
war is to be declared at this place, I should be glad if your Honor would direct 
the manner. I know there is ceremony required, but the order I am ignorant 
of." The Governor replied : " The method, that you are to declare war, is at the 
head of your companies, with three voUeys of small arms, for his Majesty's 
health, and a successful war." 

1775 The Commander-in-chief made a most diplomatic but unsuccessful re- 
monstrance to General Gage on his treatment of prisoners. That Gage sent home 
thisletter of " Mr. Washington's," and it was printed in the " UniversS Magazine " 
of London for September, giving publicity to the fact that there was an occa- 
sion for such a letter, is pronounced an egregious error of the British commander. 
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and John Adams, " The Massachusetts Delega- 
tion," delivered at Cambridge the five hundred thousand dollai's sent by Con- 
gi"ess to Washington for the prosecution of the war. 

1790 President Washington after the adjournment of Congress made a voy- n 
age in his own barge to Newport for his health, which had suffered greatly from 
the demands of his office. At this time there was considerable anxiety felt in 
regard to his condition. 

"His sword thirsted not for blood. His arm was not lifted up for conquest. While he 
fought for the defence of all you hold most dear the havoc necessary for attaining success he 
deplored. Amid the din of arms the carnage and the hottest rage of battle he listened to the 
still small voice of humanity in his breast." John B. Johnston, D. D. {New York, 1800). 



120 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



AUGUST FOURTEENTH. 



1755 Governor Dinwiddle appointed Colonel Washington commander of the 
Virginia troops, and the House of Burgesses voted him three hundred pounds as 
" a reward and compensation, for gallant behavior and losses " at the Battle of 
Monongahela. Washington wi-ote his mother: "If it is in my power to avoid 
going to the Ohio again I shall ; but if the command is pressed upon me by the 
general voice of the country, and offered upon such terms as cannot be objected 
against, it would reflect dishonor upon me to refuse it, and that I am sure must 
or ought to give you greater uneasiness than my going in honorable command ; 
for upon no other terms will I accept it." 

1776 Upon the arrival of the British at New York, Washington addressed 
his troops, saying, "We must resolve to conquer or die; with this resolution, and 
the blessing of Heaven, Victory, and Success, certainly will attend us. There 
will then be a glorious issue to this Campaign, and the General will reward his 
brave Fellow Soldiers with every Indulgence in his power." 

1781 The failure of the governors of the States to furnish the troops, and the 
disinclination of Admiral de Grasse to force the harbor of New York, compelled 
Washington to give up the attack on that city. In council with Rochambeau at 
Dobbs Ferry, it was determined to march both armies to the head of the Elk to 
be transported to Virginia for the pui'pose of attacking Cornwallis. 



" Washington had wisdom adequate for every occasion, strength of character to guide a revo- 
lution and to stop a counter-revolution which would have made him king. He had wisdom to rule 
a new-born democracy as its guardian amid the seductions of European monarchies, and to resign 
to a new republic its rightful throne." Levi Parsons Morton ( Vermont). 

AUGUST FIFTEENTH. 

1774 Colonel Washington superintended at Bel voir a sale of the personal 
effects of his intimate friend George William Fairfax, then living in England. 
Among his purchases was "a large Marble Mortar," afterward used (October, 
1785) by Houdon in preparing the plaster of Paris for the cast he made of Wash- 
ington for the Richmond statue. 

1775 General Washington at Cambridge, in utmost perplexity about powder, 
wrote to Elias Boudinot : " I have only eight rounds to a man although I have 
near fourteen Miles of Line to guard, and I dare not fire an Evening or Morning 
gun. In this situation one of the Committee of Safety from Massachusetts, who 
was privy to the whole secret deserted and went over to General Gage, and dis- 
covered oui' poverty to him. The fact was so incredible that General Gage ' 
treated it as a strategem of war, and the infonnant as a spy." 

1777 The Commander-in-chief from Neshaming Camp, Bucks County Penn- 
sylvania, wrote to General Putnam : " The people in the Northern army seem 
so intimidated by the Indians that I have determined to send up Col. Morgan's 
corps of riflemen, who will fight them in their own way. They wdll march from 
Trenton to-morrow morning." 



"Of all the American Statesmen of his time George Washington most fully and accurately 
appreciated the Military need of his country, viz., that of a military force on 'land and sea, so 
thoroughly disciplined as to be strictly obedient to the national will, and of suflScient strength 
to execute that will." John M. Schofield, Major-General U. S. A. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 121 



AUGUST SIXTEENTH. 



1779 In inviting Dr. Cochran, director-general of the Military Hospital, his 
wife and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Livingston, to dine at West Point, Washington 
wrote : " When the cook has a mind to cut a figure, (which I presume will be the 
case tomorrow,) we have two Beefsteak pies, or dishes of crabs, in addition, one 
on each side the centre dish, dividing and reducing the distance between dish & 
dish to about the space of six feet ; which without them would be nearly twelve 
feet apart. Of late he has had the surprising sagacity to discover that apples 
will make pies ; and it is a question, if in the violence of his efforts, we do not 
get one of apples instead of having both of Beefsteaks." 

1783 General Washington received from Chevalier Juan de Heintz a com- 
munication addressed to Congress proposing that that body should select a number 
of suitable persons in America to receive " The Order of Divine Providence," an 
ancient Polish order of knighthood. This document Washington promptly trans- 
mitted to Congress. In the following January, being then a private citizen, 
Washington wrote a most gracious reply, endeavoring to explain that it would illy 
harmonize with our republican institutions to accept monarchical titles. 



"Washington discerned as if by intuition every element and every condition of the body 
politic. He contemplated its healthful action and the means of its continuance; — its diseased 
action and prescribed the appropriate remedies. His eye ran along the distant future and his 
pen with unerring certainty recorded what was to be, and worked out for the embryo nation its 
path to a glorious destiny." William Buell Sprague, D. D. {New York). 

AUGUST SEVENTEENTH. 

1755 Rev. Samuel Davies, afterward president of Princeton College, preached 
a sermon to a Virginia regiment in Hanover County, upon " Religion and Patriot- 
ism the Constituants of a Good Soldier." He prophetically said : *' As a remark- 
able instance of this I may point out to the public that heroic youth, Colonel 
Washington, whom I can but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so sig- 
nal a manner for some important service to his country." 

1790 As the President entered the harbor at Newport, salutes were fired, 
and on landing he was escorted thi'ough the streets by the clergy and prominent 
citizens. At the State House a dinner of eighty covers was given him ; among 
the toasts was " May the last be first," in allusion to Rhode Island being the last 
State to ratify the Constitution. 

1799 General Washington wrote his nephew Robert Lewis in regard to 
slavery : " To sell the ovei-plus I cannot because I am prejudiced against this 
kind of traffic in the human species ; to hire them out is almost as bad, because 
they can not be disposed of in families to any advantage and to di\ide families I 
have an aversion." 



" Great without pomp, without ambition brave, " Who plan their greatness on their Brethren's 
Proud not to conquer fellowmen but save ; woes, 

Friend to the wretched, Foe to none but And by no titles, faithless to no trust, 
those Free from faction, obstinately just." 

Charles Henry Wharton, D. D. {Maryland). 



122 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



ATJGUST EIGHTEENTH. 



1769 Colonel and Mrs. Washington, with children and servants, were at 
Warm Springs, Virginia, with the special hope of improving the health of Patsey 
Custis. Washington wrote : " Some confident reports of Indian disturbances at 
Fort Pitt, drove many families in from Redstone, and gave some alarm to the 
female visitors of these waters." 

1782 ''The G-eneral has the pleasure to inform the army of the total re- 
covery of the State of Georgia from the hands of the enemy. On the 11th of 
July the British evacuated Savannah leaving the town and works uninjured. 
Brigadier General Wayne appears to have merited great applause by his conduct 
there." Orderly BooJc (Hewburg). 

1783 General Washington left Newburg, having the day before issued this 
his last order from that place : " The Commander-in-chief having been requested 
by Congress to give his attendance at Princeton, proposes to set out for that 
place tomorrow ; but he expects to have the pleasure of seeing the army again 
before he retires to private life. During his absence Major General Knox will 
retain command of the troops, and all reports are to be made to him accordingly." 



" While patriots shall not cease to applaud the sacred attachments which you have con- 
stantly manifested to the rights of citizens, too often violated by men in arms, your military 
virtues and achievements wiU be deeply recorded in the breasts of your countrymen and their 
posterity, and note the brightest pages in the history of mankind." 

Massachusetts Legislature (1783). 

ATJGUST NINETEENTH 

1781 The American and French troops were ordered under arms and the 
■-? impression given out that an attack on Philadelphia was contemplated, scouts 
going forward to open the roads " to misguide and bewilder Sir Henry Clinton " ; 
but the armies turned toward Kings Ferry, beginning their march to Yorktown. 
Washington and suite left the army at this point, proceeding rapidly toward 
Virginia. 

1790 At Providence the President received the addresses of the Society of 
the Cincinnati, the Rhode Island Colleges, and dined with 200 gentlemen at the 
Town Hall. At the conclusion of the President's toast, " The town of Provi- 
dence," the company with a crowd of citizens walked with him to the wharf, 
where he and his suite embarked for New York. 

1795 The President placed in the hands of Edmund Randolph, Secretary 
of State, a despatch indicating that secretary's sympathy with France. This 
despatch was fi*om Fauchet, the French minister, to his Government, and was 
found on a French corvette captured by the British, and was delivered by the 
English minister, Mr. Hammond, to the Secretary of the Treasury, for the infor- 
mation of the Executive. Upon reading it Mr. Randolph immediately offered 
his resignation, which was promptly accepted. 



"I have always admired your great virtues and qualities, your disinterested patriotism, your 
unshaken courage and simplicity of manner, qualifications by which you surpass men even the 
most celebrated of antiquity." Count Herzburg {Prussia). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 123 

AUGUST TWENTIETH. 

1775 General Washington again remonstrated with General Gage, upon 
" unworthy treatment shown officers and citizens of America, whom the fortunes 
of war, chance, or a mistaken confidence has thrown into your hands. You 
affect, Sir, to despise all rank not derived from the same source with your own. 
I cannot conceive one more honorable, than that which flows from the uncor- 
rupted choice of a brave and free people, the present source and original fountain 
of all power. Far from making it a plea for cruelty, a mind of true magnanimity 
and enlarged ideas would comprehend and respect it." 

1778 Washington wrote from White Plains to General Nelson : " It is not 
a little pleasing, nor less wonderfid to contemplate, that after two years man- 
ceuveiing and undergoing the strangest vicissitudes, that perhaps ever attended 
any one contest since the creation, both armies are brought back to the very 
point they set out from, and that which was the offending party in the beginning, 
is now reduced to the use of the spade and pickaxe for defense. The hand of 
Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an 
infidel, who lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to 
acknowledge his obligations." 



" His deportment was invariably grave ; it was sobriety that stopped short of sadness. His 
presence inspired a veneration and a feeling of awe, rarely experienced in the presence of any 
man. His mode of speaking was slow and deliberate, not as though he was in search of fine 
words; but that he might utter those only adapted to his purpose." William Sullivan {Maine). 

AUGUST TWENTY-FIRST. 

1777 Upon receipt of intelligence of the arrival of the enemy in Chesapeake 
Bay, Congress ordered the immediate removal of the stores and prisoners from 
Lancaster and York to places of greater safety, and directed Washington " to 
proceed in such manner as shall appear to him conducive to the general interest." 

1781 General Washington at Treason House, Kings Ferry (as the residence 
of Joshua Hett Smith, where Andre and Arnold plotted the delivery of West 
Point, was called), demanded of the officers commanding His Britannic Majesty's 
ships at New York, that the commissioners of prisons be allowed to visit the 
prison ships in the harbor, and that " a bare denial, of what has been asserted 
by so many individuals who have unfortunately experienced the statements, will 
not he satisfactory.''^ 

1787 From Philadelpliia, Washington wrote General Knox : " By slow, I 
wish I could add sure movements, the business of the convention advances. I 
wish a disposition may be found in Congress, the state legislatures, and the com- 
munity at large, to adopt the government, which may be agreed on in conven- 
tion, because I am fully persuaded it is the best that can be obtained at the 
present moment under such a diversity of ideas as prevail." 



" Our people must be taught to hold the memory of Washington as the palladium of political 
virtue, as they hold the Constitution the palladium of our political existence." 

Noah Hunt Schenck, D. D. {New Jersey). 



124 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

AUGUST TWENTY-SECOND. 

1777 In council of war the day previous (at which Lafayette was present for 
the first time), it had been determined to march to the North River, but receiv- 
ing from Congress the information of the arrival of the British, Washington 
ordered the troops " to move towards Philadelphia and onwards." The brilliant 
success of General Stark at Bennington was thus announced : " The Commander- 
in-chief informs the army of the signal victory obtained to the Northward. . . . 
Our troops behaved in a very brave and heroic manner." 

1784 Lafayette, who had arrived on the seventeenth, was happy in a quiet 
visit at Mount Vernon. His voyage from Em-ope of thirty-fom- days, and his 
receptions at New York and Philadelphia, had so fatigued him that his visit to 
Washington was one of rest as well as pleasure. 

1795 President Washington's secretary and friend, Tobias Lear, was married 
to Fanny Bassett Washington, widow of George Augustine Washington. This 
" dear Fanny," a niece of Mrs. Washington, had frequently been an inmate of the 
President's family before her first marriage, and was married at Mount Vernon 
in 1785 ; she was a comfort, and much depended upon in the household. 



" In whatever light we view the character of this truly great man we are struck with the 
fresh cause for esteem and admiration we every moment discover. New and shining traits of 
humility, — of wisdom and disinterested heroism." William P. Carey {Ireland). 

AUGUST TWENTY-THIRD. 

1776 General Washington notified Congress that nine thousand British had 
landed at Gravesend Bay, and were within three miles of his lines. In his order 
he made this stirring appeal to the army : " The Enemy have now landed on 
Long Island, and the horn* is fast approaching, on which the Honor and Success 
of the Army and the Safety of our Bleeding Country will depend. Remember, 
officers and soldiers, that you are free men fighting for the blessings of Liberty ; 
that Slavery will be your portion and that of yom- posterity, if you do not acquit 
yourselves like men. Remember how your Courage and Spii'it have been de- 
spised and traduced by your cruel invaders. Be cool but determined, do not fire 
at a distance, but wait for orders from your officers." 

1779 The Commander-in-chief inclosed to the president of Congress Major 
Henry Lee's report of the sm'prise and capture on the nineteenth of the garri- 
son of Paulus Hook (Jersey City). In communicating this intelligence the Gen- 
eral with pride said of his old friend : " The Major displayed a remai-kable degree 
of prudence, address, enterprise, and bravery, upon this occasion, which does the 
highest honor to himseK and to all the officers and men under his command. 
The situation of the post rendered the attempt critical and the success brilliant." 



"By unanimous consent, Washington was declared the saviour of his country. All pro- 
claimed him equal to the most renowned commanders of Antiquity, especially distinguished him 
by the name of the American Fabius. His name was in the mouths of all; he was celebrated by 
the pens of the most distinguished vmters." Carlo Botta {Italy). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 125 

AUGUST TWENTY-FOUETH. 

1777 General Washington, at the head of ten thousand troops, three di\'i- 
sions of the army under Generals SuUivan, Greene, and Shirley, marched in single 
column through Philadelphia, crossing the Schuykill at IMiddle Feny, Market 
Street, en route to "Wilmington, Del. The following day he established head- 
quarters on Quaker Hill, in that city. Thousands of patriots gi'eeted the troops 
as they passed through the *^ City of Brotherly Love." 

1780 The Commander-in-chief from his headquarters, '^ Liberty Pole Tav- 
ern," Teaneck, N. J., gave the following order to General Greene : " Take the 
command of the Light Infantry and four brigades from youi- own wing, to be 
employed on a forage down to Bergen, and from thence up to the English 
neighborhood." 

1795 President Washington offered the portfolio of state, vice Edmund Ran- 
dolph resigned, to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, sajing, " An office of such dig- 
nity and high importance ought not to be without a head at such a crisis as this 
a moment." He had already tendered it to that " valuable man," Thomas John- 
son of Maryland. 



"The work left undone by "Washington was finished by Lincoln. Kindred in service, kin- 
dred in patriotism, each is surrounded in death by kindred homage. One sleeps in the East, 
the other in the West ; and thus in death as in life, one is the complement of the other. . . . 
Washington was the natural representative of National Independence. He might also have rep- 
resented National Unity had this principle been challenged to bloody battle during his life, for 
nothing was nearer his heart than the consolidation of our Union." 

Charles Sumner {Massachusetts). 

AUGUST TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1781 At Kings Ferry the Commander-in-chief for five days had watched the 
allied armies cross the Hudson. He was most hopeful at the prospect of the 
reunion with Count de Grasse, and confident of capturing Lord Cornwallis and 
his army. He wi-ote the Count : '' From the progress already made in our march 
towards the Chesapeake it is estimated that the troops may arrive at the Head 
of Elk by the 8th of September." This crossing was conceded to be the most 
brilliant spectacle of the Wai* of the Revolution. 

1783 General and Mrs. Washington with his military family reached Rocky 
HiU, the headquarters provided and furnished by Congress, four miles from 
Princeton. This house, the last headquarters of the Revolution, is still standing. 

1789 Mary Washington, mother of George Washington, died at her home, 
Fredericksburg, Va., of cancer of the breast, in the eighty-third year of her age, 
having been a widow forty-six years. This strong, dignified, estimable woman, 
made immortal through an immortal son, was in every particular worthy of the 
respect, even the reverence, with which her name is cherished. Lafayette wrote 
of her : " Never have I felt such veneration." 



" But, Good Sirs, here is too much flattery ; still George will not forget the lessons I early 
taught him. He will not forget himself, though he is the subject of so much praise." 

Mary Washington (Virginia). 



126 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY- 

AUGUST TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1775 The Continentals under fire from Bunker Hill took possession of 
Plowed Hill, Mount Benedict, an elevation considerably in advance of their lines, 
and rapidly pushed the work of fortification. Washington informed Congress 
" the enemy kept up the fire with little spirit on their part, or damage on ours." 

1783 General Washington was received this day by Congress at Prince- 
ton, N. J., with every mark of distinction. The order of July 28th reads, " The 
motive in bringing you was to get your assistance and advice in the arrange- 
ments for peace. It may be necessary to consult you on a variety of militaiy 
subjects. Your being near Congress will be a public good." At twelve o'clock 
he was escorted to the hall, and listened to an address of welcome from Presi- 
dent EHas Boudinot, who said : " Congress feel particular pleasure in seeing 
your Excellency, and in congratulating you on the success of a war, in which you 
have acted so conspicuous a part. In other nations men have performed ser- 
vices, for which they have deserved and received the thanks of the public. But 
to you, sir, peculiar praise is due. Your services have been essential in ac- 
quiring and establishing the freedom and independence of your country. They 
deserve the grateful acknowledgment of a free and independent nation. These 
acknowledgments. Congress have the satisfaction of expressing to your ex- 
cellency." 



" But more valuable even than his military genius was that unyielding spirit which ani- 
mated Washington himself, and with which he inspired both the Congress and the people." 

Gentleman's Magazine {London). 

AUGUST TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1776 The disastrous Battle of Long Island was fought this day. There was 
distressing loss in the gallant Maryland line. Stirling's division was cut up, 
and Stirling and Sullivan were made prisoners. So great did the British esteem 
this victory that General Howe was promptly knighted. This was the bloodiest 
field of the Revolution, but the Continentals stood firmly, as their great loss 
testifies. 

1777 General Washington, accompanied by Generals Lafayette, Greene, and 
Weedon, reconnoitered the previous day to within three miles of the Head of 
Elk, at which point the British had just landed. They were in imminent danger 
of capture, having to remain all night at a farm-house, in consequence of a ter- 
rible storm, and at dawn returned to Wilmington. 

1781 To Robert Morris, Supeiintendent of Finance, Washington appealed for 
funds. Congress having failed to pay the troops. He said : " The service they are 
going on is disagreeable to the Northern regiments ; but I make no doubt that 
a douceur of a little hard money would put them in proper temper." Morris 
upon his own responsibility borrowed $30,000 ($20,000 from Count de Rocham- 
beau), making the attack on Yorktown possible. 



" The publication of the correspondence of Washington is, without doubt, the noblest mon- 
ument which could have been raised to his glory. In it is truly shown this great character, so 
original in his simplicity. Little to astonish, few special characteristics, but a striking whole." 

CorneJis De Witt {France). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 127 

AUGUST TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1779 The condition of the army is shown in this letter from Washington, at 
West Point, to Governor Johnson of Maryland: " It is reaUy in many instances 
painfully distressing ; the necessaries of life and the means of procuring them 
has compelled many oflBicers of good reputation to resign their Commissions.^' 

1780 Washington wrote to the president of Congress: "The intelligence 
brought by the Alliance of the French troops being blocked up in Brest, by 
thirty two British ships of the line, has made a material change in the prospects 
of the campaign. Tliis, and the extreme distress of our magazines, have deter- 
mined me to dismiss all the militia in service, except such part as was wanted 
for immediate use." 

1781 The Commander-in-chief organized " a Light Division " of choice regi- 
ments under General Lincoln, and ordered the rear-guard, which made a feint 
on New York, to join the main army by forced march. In asking for militia of 
Governor Lee of Maryland, he said : " The moment, the opportunity is precious, 
the prospect most favorable, I hope that no supineness, or waste of exertion on 
our own part may prove the means of disappointment." 



" The similarity between his public virtues and those of Alfred the Great is admirable. 
These extraordinary men were both celebrated for their love of justice, their fortitude, patriot- 
ism and piety." John Corry {Life of Washington, 1802). 

AUGUST TWENTY-NINTH. 

1756 Colonel Washington, from Winchester, Va., wrote Lord Fairfax to 
furnish him militia to repulse the Indians on the frontier, saying, " It is with 
infinite concern, I see the distresses of the people, and hear their complaints, 
without being able to afford them relief. The Maryland settlements are all 
abandoned is certainly /ac^, as I have had the accounts transmitted to me by 
several hands. . . . Three hundi-ed and fifty wagons had passed Monocacy to 
avoid the enemy within the space of three days." 

1776 At a council of war in the mansion of Philip Livingston, Brooklyn 
Heights, it was decided " to give up Long Island, and not by dividing the force, 
be unable to resist the enemy in any one point of attack." This retreat was so 
well conducted that it called forth praise from European commanders. It was 
said that in the dark many of the troops did not realize they were retreating 
until they reached East River. The suffering from extreme heat was distress- 
ing, especially to the wounded. Washington was an inspiration to such brave 
men, and indefatigable in his efforts to cheer and relieve theii- sufferings. 



"His genius, it is true, was of a peculiar kind; the genius of character, of thought and the 
objects of thought solidified and concentrated into active faculty. He belongs to that rare class 
of men, rare as Homers and Miltons — rare as Platos and Newtons — who have impressed their 
character upon nations without pampering national vices." 

Edwin Percy Whipple {Massachusetts). 



128 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



AUGUST THIRTIETH. 



1780 The Commander-in-chief addressed a protest to General Haldimand, in 
Quebec, npon learning that several American gentlemen were suffering unjust 
impiisonment in that city, and asked that they might be transferred to New 
York. 

1781 General Washington, Rochambeau, and Chastellux, with their suites, 
arrived at Philadelphia. They were met in the subui-bs by the City Light 
Horse, and escorted to the City Tavern. They paid their respects to Congress, 
and dined at the house of Robert Morris with the president, Hon. Thomas 
M'Kean, and other gentlemen of distinction. Vessels lying in port fired salutes 
when the different toasts were drunk. '' In the evening the city was illuminated, 
and his Excellency walked through some of the principal streets, attended by a 
numerous concourse of people, eagerly pressing to see their beloved General." 

1790 The President, having returned from Newport on the 21st, left New 
York for Mount Vernon, to remain until Congi'css should convene in December 
at Philadelphia. This proved to be his final leave-taking of New York. 



"The universal consent of mankind accords to Washington the highest place among the 
great men of the race. He has no peer in the combination of absolute disinterestedness, sound 
judgment, knowledge of the character of his country, integrity, prudence, untiring industry, 
patience, self-command, comprehension of things in their largest relations, rapid decision in 
emergency, dignity and grace of demeanor." George Frisbie Hoar (Massachusetts). 

AUGUST THIRTY-FIRST. 

1774 In Washington's diary is the following: ''After dinner in company 
with Patrick Henry and Mr. Pendleton started to attend the General Congress 
at Philadelphia." In summing up the ability of that Congi'ess, Patrick Henry 
said : " If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina is the greatest 
orator; but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel 
Washington is by far the greatest man on the floor." 

1776 From headquarters. New York, Washington wrote Congress of the 
disastrous engagement on Long Island, explaining mat he had not sooner written 
on account of the extreme heat and exhaustion caused by sleeplessness and 
being forty-eight hours in the saddle. In an order to the army, he said : '' The 
General hopes the several officers, both superior and inferior, will now exert 
themselves, and gloriously determine to conquer, or die. From the justice of 
our cause, the situation of the harbor, and the bravery of her sons, America can 
only expect success. Now is the time for every man to exert himself, and make 
our country glorious, or it will become contemptable." 

1791 The following is found in the records of Harvard College: "That the 
thanks of this corporation be given to Mr. Edward Savage for his polite and 
generous attention to this University, in painting a portrait of the President of 
the United States, taken by him from the life." This portrait now hangs in the 
Hall of Philosophy. 



"It was in Washington that these four cardinal virtues, justice, prudence, temperance, and 
fortitude, formed a union so rare and complete." James Madison, Bishop of Virginia. 





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SEPTEMBER FIRST. 

1753 On the eve of starting upon the mission to Fort le Boeuf , Major "Wash- 
ington, having come to take leave of his mother, attended a meeting of the Ma- 
sonic Lodge at Fredericksburg, Va., with his friend Captain Jacob Van Braam. 
It was this foreign officer, or as he was called " Master of Fence/' who had in- 
structed him in the art of fencing. 

1758 Colonel Washington wrote from camp, near Fort Cumberland, to John 
Robinson, Speaker of the House of Burgesses : '^ We are still encamped here, 
very sickly, and quite dispirited at the prospect before us. See how our time 
has been misspent. How is it to be accounted for ? I wish I were sent imme- 
diately home, as an aid to some other on this errand. I think, without vanity, 
I could set the conduct of this expedition in its true colors, having taken some 
pains, perhaps more than any other man, to dive to the bottom of it." 

1775 This entry in Washington's account-book shows his genius for detail : 
*' Sept. 1, 1775 To paper, sealing-wax & severals, £6. 10.0. To cash for recovur- 
ing my Pistols which had been stolen & repamng them afterwards. £1, 10, 0." 

1784 Washington started on a long Western journey, accompanied by Dr. 
Craik. They traveled seven hundred miles during five weeks' absence, and in- 
vestigated the facilities for internal navigation afforded by the rivers which have 
their sources among the Alleghany Mountains, and they inspected the lands 
where Washington had large possessions. 



"Washington when he took his seat in the House of Burgesses was in the plenitude of his 
splendid mental and physical powers. His aspirations and conceptions of the duties of the 
citizen were exalted and noble, his character was formed and recognized as eminent by the fore- 
most men of the day. He had already demonstrated his prowess in armes and his capabilities 
as a leader of men under trying circumstances so that he was entitled to be ranked as one of 
the most promising if not actually the most conspicuous character in the colonies. Truth cou- 
rage and manhood the central pillars in the temple of personal rectitude were conspicuous in 
him from his youth ; which in their totality we call character. The term character is used ad- 
visedly as indicating his well-ballanced faculties resulting from the harmonious blending of 
his vigorous physical organization, strong mental powers culture and high moral concepts. 
Washington more justly than any other man may be likened to a circle the excellence of which 
depends on its complete roundness not on its magnitude." 

Joseph Meredith Toner, M. D. (Maryland). 
9 129 



130 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

SEPTEMBER SECOND. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief issued to Captain Nicholson Boughton of 
Marblehead, Mass., the first naval commission, with orders to "take command 
of the Schooner Hannah, and cruise about such vessels as may be found on the 
high seas bound inward or outward from Boston in service of the Ministerial 
Army." Three days later he sailed " to defy the proud navy of England." 

1781 From Philadelphia, pushing on to Yorktown, Washington wrote to 
Lafayette : " Should the retreat of Lord Cornwallis by water be cut off I am per- 
suaded you will do all in your power to prevent his escape by land. May that 
great felicity be reserved for you." 

1787 General Washington in Philadelphia carefully notes his examination 
of an invention : " Visited a machine at Doctor Franklin's (called a mangle) for 
pressing, in place of Ironing Clothes from the wash, which machine from the 
facility with which it dispatches business is well calculated for Table Cloths & 
such articles as have not pleats & iiTegular foldings, and would be very useful 
in large families." 



"Your name alone, sir, has established in Europe a confidence that for some time before 
was entirely wanting in American concerns. This is more glorious for you than all the laurels 
that your sword so nobly won in the rights of human nature. In war your name is immortal as 
the hero of liberty; in peace you are her patron and the firmest supporter of her rights." 

John Paul Jones, U. S. Navy. 

SEPTEMBER THIRD. 

1777 General Washington wrote from Wilmington to the president of Con- 
gress : " This morning the Enemy came out with a considerable force and three 
pieces of Artillery, against our Light advanced corps, and after some pretty 
smart skirmishing obliged them to retreat, being far inferior in number and 
without cannon. The design of their movement seems to have been to disperse 
our Light Troops, who had been troublesome to them, and to gain possession of 
Iron Hill, to establish a post for covering their retreat in ease of accidents." 
Of John Cadwalader of Maryland, Washington said : "I know him to be a judi- 
cious, valuable officer and I have often regretted that he did not hold a higher 
command in the Army of the United States." 

1781 The French army marched through Philadelphia, and at the State 
House was reviewed by the president of Congress, the Commander-in-chief, 
Count de Rochambeau, and suites. To proclaim the superiority, at aU times and 
under all circumstances, of the civil over the military, President McKean stood 
with head covered, while the generals by his side removed theu* chapeaus. This 
weU-drilled and perfectly equipped army called forth universal admiration, and 
was two days in passing. 



" Where may the wearied eye repose 
When gazing on the great, 
Where neither guilty glory grows, 
Nor despicable state : 
Yes, one — the first, the last, the best, 
The Cineinnatus of the West, 
Whom envy dared not hate — 
Bequeathed the name of Washington, 
To make men blush, there was but One." 

Byron (England). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 131 



SEPTEMBER FOURTH. 



1774 Colonel Washington, Patrick Henry, and Edmund Randolph, having- 
breakfasted at Wilmington, crossed Christiana Ferry and dined in Chester. It 
was a notable trio : Washington was forty-two years of age, Patrick Henry four 
years his junior, and Edmund Randolph threescore. As they had journeyed 
from Vii'ginia, these earnest patriots had with evil forebodings discussed the ill 
usage received from the mother-country and the possibilities of redress without 
resorting to arms. 

1778 From White Plains, Washington wrote to the president of Congress: 
" The designs of the enemy, as to their future movements, remain yet entirely 
unfolded ; but the expectation of their leaving the continent is daily decreasing. 
The hurricane season seems opposed to their going to the West Indies. Where 
the theatre of war maybe, must be a matter of conjecture." 

1794 Upon the arrival in this country of the son of his dear friend Lafay- 
ette, and his namesake, the President wrote to George Calvert: "I will be his 
friend, but the manner of becoming so, considering the obnoxious Hght in which 
his father is viewed by the French Government, and my own situation as the 
Executive of the United States requires time to consider in all its relations." 



" His administration was a satire on those born to rule. When we see a whole nation of 
freemen in tears — disconsolate for the death of a fellow citizen;— What words can swell his 
panegyric ? " Timothy Bigelow {Massachusetts). 

SEPTEMBER FIFTH. 

1774 Colonel Washington, one of the fifty-one members of the General Con- 
gress, was present at its opening in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. This body 
was called together to express the sentiments of the colonies, and to take mea- 
sures in regard to the situation in Massachusetts. Silas Deaue wi'ote his wife: 
''You may tell your friends that I never met, nor scarcely had an idea of meet- 
ing with men of such firmness, sensibility, spirit, and thorough knowledge of the 
interests of America, as the gentlemen from the Southern Provinces appear to 
be. May New England go hand in hand with them, and we need not fear a 
want of spirit." 

1781 "The rear of the French army having reached Philadelphia, and the 
Americans having passed it, the stores having got up and everything in a toler- 
able train here ; I left the city for the head of Elk to hasten the embarkation at 
that place, and on my way received the agreeable news of the safe aiTival of the 
Count de Grasse in the Bay of Chesapeake with 28 sail of the line, and four 
frigates with 3,000 land troops which were to be immediately debarked at James- 
town, and form a junction with the American army under the command of the 
Marquis de Lafayette." Washington's Journal. 



"Some great men have played leap-frog; some practised this affectation, some that. The 
book of history records too amply the child-like diversions among those who have flourished on 
the summits of renown. We hear of none of this in Washington." 

Richard Bush (Pennsylvania). 



132 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

SEPTEMBER SIXTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief divided his army into three divisions, — five 
thousand to remain in New York, nine thousand to be placed at Bangs Bridge 
and its dependencies, and the third to move between the two points. In reply- 
to Congress, asking him *' to have a special care taken, in case he shall find it 
necessary to quit New York, that no damage be done the city, by his troops on 
their leaving it," he said : " In case w^e are obliged to abandon it I shall take 
every measure in my power to prevent it." 

1777 Washington said : "Since General Howe's debarkation in Elk river he 
has moved on about seven miles ; his main body now lays at Iron Hill, and ours 
near a village called Newport (three miles beyond Wilmington), in this position 
the armies are from eight to ten miles apart. It is yet very uncertain what 
General Howe's plan of operations mil be." 

1781 To Admiral Count de Grasse, General Washington replied: "I have 
been honored by yoiu* Excellencies favor of the 2nd instant, and do myself 
the pleasure to felicitate you on the happy arrival of so formidable a fleet of 
his Most Christian Majesty in the Bay of Chesapeake under your Excellency's 
command." 



"All I can say is that I look upon Washington, among great and good men, as one pecu- 
liarly good and great ; and that he has been to me for more than forty years a light upon the 
path of life." William E. Gladstone. 

SEPTEMBER SEVENTH. 

1774 On motion of Samuel Adams of Massachusetts Bay, the first prayer 
was offered in the General Congress by Rev. Jacob Duche, the eloquent Episco- 
pal divine. After reading the thirty-fifth Psalm, he made fervent extempore 
prayer. He was then an ardent patriot, but when the British occupied Phila- 
delphia his corn-age failed, and he wTote Washington begging him to resign and 
" to represent to Congi*ess, the indispensable necessity of rescinding the hasty 
and ill-advised Declaration of Independence." , 

1785 Washington applied to Samuel Fraunce, New York, the well-known 
boniface, to do him the favor of securing him a housekeeper, whom he could 
recommend for honesty and knowledge of her profession, "to reUeve Mrs. 
Washington from the drudgery of ordering." After he became President, 
Fraunce was his chef de cuisine, but was dismissed on account of extravagance. 

1788 To Colonel WilHam Barton, of Rhode Island, that gallant mihtia ofiB- 
cer who captured General Prescott (in 1778 exchanged for General Chai'les 
Lee), Washington wrote in regard to the um-easonable prejudice against an in- 
nocent institution, "I mean the Cincinnati," repudiating all designs on the part 
of its promoters of setting up an order of nobility. 



"His fame is a sea without a shore. Learn from him to be all eye, all ear, all heart in the 
service of your country, to think no service too great, which public good i-equires at your hands. 
He had religion without austerity, dignity without pride, modesty without diffidence, politeness 
without affectation, affability without familiarity." David Ramsay, LL. D. {South Carolina). 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 133 

SEPTEMBER EIGHTH. 

1781 General Washington and his Adjutant-General Hand, Governor Clin- 
ton, Count de Rochambeau, Chastellux, and Viomenil, on their journey to York- 
town, received a warm welcome at Baltimore. The city was illuminated, the 
streets crowded with men, women, and children, and about "Fountain Inn," 
where Washington remained all night, " the scene was one of almost frantic joy." 

1782 The Commander-in-chief informed General Sir Guy Carleton that he 
had selected Major-Generals Heath and Knox to confer with the English com- 
missioners. Lieutenant- General Campbell and Mr. Elliott, to settle a general 
cartel for exchange of prisoners. He proposed that the meeting be held at 
Tappan on the 18th, " at which time my Commissioners will attend and will be 
accompanied by the Commissioners of prisoners." 

1791 President Washington wrote to General and Mrs. Knox on the death 
of a child ; one of their children had been named for him. On this occasion, as 
on every other when opportunity offered, he gave assurance of his abiding faith 
in God. He said : " He that gave, you know, has the right to take away. His 
ways are wise, they are inscrutable and irresistable." 



"Washington stands alone, unapproacha'ble, like a snow peak rising above its fellows into 
the clear air of the morning, with a dignity, constancy, and purity which have made him the 
ideal type of civic virtue to succeeding generations. No greater benefit could have befallen the 
republic than to have such a type from the first, before the eye and mind of the people." 

James Bryce, M. P., "TTie American Commonwealth" {England). 

SEPTEMBER NINTH. 

1777 At Newport, Delaware, General Washington, with the Continental 
army, having waited all day under arms, expecting an attack from 8h' William 
Howe, who was only two miles in the rear, marched through the night, and took 
post on the high grounds near Chadd's Ford. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief, from the Head of Elk, en route for Yorktown, 
accompanied only by Adjutant-General Hand, reached Mount Vernon late in the 
evening, having been absent from his beloved home six years and four months — 
a separation which had been a sorrow demanding all the fortitude his strong na- 
ture had been able to summon. 

1786 Washington wrote from Mount Vernon to that early advocate of anti- 
slavery. Governor John Francis Mercer of Maryland : '' I never mean, unless 
some particular circumstances should compel me to it, to possess another slave 
by purchase, it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by which 
slavery in this country may be abolished by law." 



" Twice he was made dictator, with absolute power, and never abused the awful and despotic 
trust. The monarchic soldiers and civilians would make him king. He tramped on their offer, 
and went back to his fields of corn and tobacco at Mount Vernon. The grandest act of his 
public life was to give up his power; the most magnanimous deed of his private life was to 
liberate his slaves." Tfieodore Parker (Massachusetts). 



134 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



SEPTEMBER TENTH. 



1780 The Commander-in-chief and his generals attended the funeral of 
Brigadier-General Enoch Poor, who was mortally wounded in a duel with a French 
officer. He was interred at the old Dutch Reformed Chm-cli, Hackensack. Wash- 
ington said he was "■ an officer of distinguished merit, who as a citizen and a sol- 
dier had every claim to the esteem of his country." 

1781 General and Mrs. Washington received, at Mount Vernon, Count de 
Rochambeau, Chastellux, and Viomenil. These noblemen enjoyed, with all the 
zest of boys, the short relaxation from care and the generous hospitality of the 
Virginia plantation. 

1783 From Rocky Hill, Washington wrote a fraternal letter to Thomas 
Paine, saying, ^' Come to this place and partake of my board. Your presence 
may remind Congress of your past services to this country, and if it is in my 
power to impress them, command my best exertions with freedom, as they will 
be rendered cheerfully by one who entertains a lively sense of the importance of 
yom* works." 



" His stature is noble and lofty ; he is well made and exactly proportioned ; his physiognomy 
mild and agreeable, but such as renders it impossible to speak particularly of any of his features, 
so that in quitting him you have only the recollection of a fine face. He has neither a grave nor 
a familiar air ; his brow is sometimes marked with thought, but never with inquietude. Inspiring 
respect, he inspires confidence, and his smile is always the smile of benevolence." 

Marquis de Chastellux (France). 

SEPTEMBER ELEVENTR 

1777 The Battle of Brandywine was fought this day. Washington, in his 
report to Congress, said : " We had a pretty general engagement with the enemy 
which from some unlucky incidents terminated against us, so far as our being 
obUged after an obstinate action to quit the field, with a loss of some men, and 
artillery. But from every account we have reason to believe the enemy suffered 
more than we did in the number of killed and wounded." Lafayette was seri- 
ously WQunded; he was taken to the Moravians, at Bethlehem, and tenderly 
nursed, but all his life suffered from this wound received in his fii'st important 
battle. 

1781 In honor-of their military guests, General and Mrs. Washington gave a 
dinner party at Mount Vernon. The neighbors were invited to welcome theii" 
old friend, and meet the distinguished French and American officers. Thirteen 
years before, this entry is found in Washington's diary : " Lord Fairfax, his brother, 
Colonel William Fairfax and Mr. B. Fairfax dined at Mount Vernon." 

1789 The President appointed his first cabinet officer, Alexander Hamilton, 
of New York, Secretary of the Treasury, and the following day Henry Knox, 
of Massachusetts, Secretary of War and of the Navy. The failure of Congi-ess 
to establish departments and fix the salaries of the officials caused delay in 
forming the cabinet. 



" He was in the highest sense of the word a gentleman and a man of honor, and he carried 
into public life the severest standard of private morals." William E. H. Lecky {England). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 135 



SEPTEMBER TWELFTH. 



1776 Congress left to the Commander-in-cliief the decision of evacuating 
New York, and he called his generals together for consultation. " A large ma- 
jority not only determined a removal of the army prudent, but absolutely neces- 
sary, declaring they were entirely con\inced from a full and minute inquiry into 
our situation that it was extremely perilous." 

1777 After the Battle of Brandj^ne, General Washington, at the head of 
his army, marched toward Philadelphia. The troops were in good spirits, though 
the enemy was in possession of the field. General Howe requested that Ameri- 
can surgeons be sent to care for their wounded. The day following, this order 
was issued : " The General with peculiar satisfaction thanks the gallant officers 
of the eleventh inst. who bravely fought in their country's cause." 

1778 To Henry Laurens, Washington wrote of Monsieur Gerard, the first 
French minister : "I have placed him among the number of those we ought to 
revere. Should you see no impropriety in my (being a stranger) presenting com- 
pliments to him, I would give you trouble in doing this, and of assuring him 
that I could wish to be considered as one of his admirers." 



"Washington was so useful because he was so devout, he was so strong because he was so 
reliant upon God, and unselfish and heroic because he had in him the self-sacrificing spirit of 
Christ. In fine, Washington was chief among men because, like his Master, he cheerfully be- 
came the servant of all." Joel Swartz, B. D. {Virginia). 

SEPTEMBER THIRTEENTH. 

1780 The Commander-in-chief gave Captain Hendricks Solomon, a Stock- 
bridge chief, a letter to the president of Congress, in which he said : " He and 
the twenty warriors "\rith him have done good service and I have indulged them 
in a \isit to Philadelphia, and desire they shall receive presents of clothes (fee." 
"Washington sent to General Arnold this, his last command : '' I shall be at Peek- 
skill on Sunday eve'g on my way to Hartford to meet the French Admiral and 
General. You will be pleased to send down a guard of a Captain and 50 at that 
time, and direct the q'rmaster to endeavor to have a night's forage for about 
forty Horses. You will keep this to yourself, as I want to make my journey a 
secret." 

1781 Washington, on his way from Mount Vernon to Yorktown, paused at 
Fi'edericksburg to present to his mother the distinguished foreign and native 
officers. Upon his arrival at Williamsburg the following day, he established his 
headquarters in the Wj-the House. The troops, especially the French, received 
him with deUght ; and his meeting with Lafayette was recorded by an old soldier 
as being " something to remember." 



" All his answers are pertinent ; he shows the utmost reserve and is very diffident; but at 
the same time he is firm and unchangeable in whatever he undertakes. His modesty must be 
very astonishing, especially to a Frenchman. He speaks of the American war, as though he 
had not directed it ; and of his victories with an indifference which strangers even would not 
affect.'' Jean Pierre Brissot {France). 



136 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



SEPTEMBER FOURTEENTH. 



1775 The Commander-in-chief gave Colonel Benedict Arnold command of a 
detachment to join G-eneral Schuylei^s expedition to Quebec, with instructions 
to " check every idea and crush in its earliest stages every attempt to plunder 
even those, who are known to be enemies of oiu- cause. As far as lies in your 
power, you are to protect and support the free exercise of the religion of the 
country." 

1776 General Washington, from his headquarters, the Morris House, Har- 
lem, sent Captain Nathan Hale on his fatal mission to Long Island. Despite 
the protests of officers and pleadings of comrades, this patriot undertook the 
hazardous duty of a spy. 

1782 At Verplanck's Point the entire army, under arms, forming a line of 
three miles, paraded to receive General Rochambeau on his return from the 
South. Every mark of honor was accorded the French commander and his army. 
General Washington ordered that only French music should be played. The 
' Continentals were for the fii*st time in full uniform, heretofore their only uni- 
formity having been a cap on which was the word '' Liberty." Rochambeau was 
enthusiastic over their advance in military bearing, saying to Washington : " You 
must have formed an alliance with the King of Prussia. These troops are 
Prussians." 



" The excellence of Washington is of no common character. It is that excellence that 
makes panegyric poor, that defies description, that overpowers eloquence." 

Francis Scott Key {Maryland). 

SEPTEMBER FIFTEENTH. 

1776 A detachment of British landed at Kips Bay, and engaged some Con- 
necticut troops, who became panic-stricken and fled. Washington reached the 
spot, and in his endeavor to rally the soldiers was in the hottest of the fight. 
He established headquarters at the Morris House, the home of Major Roger 
Moms, one of the British officers wounded in Braddock's engagement. His 
wife was Mary Philipse, and in 1756 Colonel Washington was her suitor. Wash- 
ington wrote : " I would beg leave to mention to Congress that the pay now al- 
lowed to nurses, is by no means adequate to their services. The officers I have 
talked with upon the subject, all agree that they should be allowed a dollar per 
week, and for less they cannot be had." 

1781 Washington sent a courier from Williamsburg to General Lincoln, 
saying, " Every day we now lose is comparatively an age, as soon as it is in our 
power with safety, we ought to take our position near the enemy. Hurry on, 
then my dear General with your troops on the wings of speed. The want of 
our men and stores is now all that retards our immediate operations." 



" I can only say that, seen from my special point of view, Washington was a great English- 
man, who fought for English rights against the government of the King of England, not against 
the English nation. Hatred of the English nation he never betrayed, nor could he be fostering 
it now." Goldwin Smith, LL. D. {Canada), 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 137 

SEPTEMBER SIXTEENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief witnessed the engagement of Harlem 
Heights, from the Point of Rocks, between the Hessian Yagers, British Light 
Infantry and Highlanders, and the American riflemen. The troops fought well 
on both sides, and gave gi*eat proof of their marksmanship. The next day, in 
thanking the men for their gallant bearing, Washington contrasted them with 
the troops at Kips Bay, showing " what may be done where officers and soldiers 
exert themselves." 

1777 Congress preferred charges against General Sullivan, as the principal 
disaster at the Battle of Brandywine was under his command. "Washington de- 
fended this brilliant, impetuous officer, and suspended his recall, saying, " It is 
not my wish to prevent or to delay a proper inquiry into General Sullivan's con- 
duct a single instant, when the circumstances of the army will admit. But now 
they prohibit it and I think the suspension of his command also." 

1795 President Washington wrote to Timothy Pickering, Secretary of War 
and the Navy, directing him to investigate the junction of the Potomac and 
Shenandoah rivers, called Harper's Ferry, as to its suitability for a United 
States arsenal, giving his favorable opinion, and recounting its peculiar ad- 
vantages. 



"His face is handsome, noWe and mild. He is tall (at least five feet eight inches). In the 
evening I was at supper with him ; I mark as a fortunate day, that in which I had been able to 
behold a man so truly great." Claude Blanchard {France). 

SEPTEMBER SEVENTEENTH. 

1777 The Continental Congress for the second time invested the Comman- 
der-in-chief with absolute power, making him Military Dictator. 

1787 " Met in Convention, when the Constitution received the unanimous 
assent of 11 states and Colo. Hamilton's from New York (the only delegate from 
thence in Convention), and was subscribed to by every member present, except 
Gov': Randolph and Colo. Mason from Virginia, & Mr. Geny from Massachu- 
setts. The business being thus closed, the members adjourned to the City Tav- 
ern, dined together and took a cordial leave of each other." Washington's 
Diary {Philadelphia). 

1796 It being the policy of President Washington to offer inducements in 
the capital city to foreign countries, he wrote the Commissioners of the Terri- 
tory of Columbia, that "it would be very agi-eeable and pleasing to me if a 
site should be given to the Spanish Minister upon which he could erect a resi- 
dence for the Representative of that country to the United States. It would 
contribute much more to the advancement of the city than any pecuniary con- 
sideration to be derived from sale of Lots." 



"Hail! patriot Chief, all Hail! Historic fame "Earth has Niagara — the sky its sun, — 
In purest gold hath traced thy glorious name ! And proud mankind its only Washington." 

Alfred B. Street {New York). 



138 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

SEPTEMBEE EIGHTEENTH. 

1781 Washington accompanied by Generals Rochambeau, Knox, Duportail, 
and Marquis de Chastellux, embarked on board the Queen Charlotte for an 
interview with Admiral de Grasse off Cape Henry. He was received by the 
French admiral on his flag-ship, Yille de Paris, with the honors due a marshal 
of France. 

1787 When he sent the proceedings of the Federal Convention to Lafayette, 
Washington said: "It is the result of four months deliberation. It is now a 
child of fortune, to be fostered by some, and buffeted by others. What will be 
the general opinion, or the reception of it, is not for me to decide ; nor shall I 
say anything for or against it. If it be good, I suppose it will work its way ; if 
bad, it will recoil on the framers." 

1793 President Washington as Master Mason marched with the Alexandria 
Lodge No. 22, and assisted in laying the southeast corner-stone of the Capitol. 
On this occasion he wore the apron and regalia embroidered by the Marquise de 
Lafayette. The gavel used is preserved in Lodge No. 9, Georgetown, D. C. The 
centenary of this event was celebrated by the Government, and by the citizens of 
the District of Columbia. 



"The life and example of Washington can never l)e too vividly portrayed. The century 
just closing has not dimmed the glory of his achievements, nor lessened the admiration of his 
grateful countrymen." Adlai E. Stevenson (^Kentucky), Vice-President of the United States. 

SEPTEMBEE NINETEENTH. 

1761 George Washington sailed for Barbados, with liis brother, Lawrence. 
In his diary he has left a naive record of the social life at the islands, as well as 
more practical observations of their climate and productions. Major Lawrence 
Washington's health, which had never been regained since the siege of Cartha- 
gena, compelled him to resign his position of Adjutant Inspector of Virginia 
Militia. This he did in favor of his brother George, who at the age of nineteen 
was commissioned Major of the Fourth Division, with a salary of £150 a year — 
his first military office. 

1783 In referring to Mrs. John Parke Custis's marriage to Dr. David Stuart, 
Washington said: "I never shall give advice to a woman who is setting out on 
a matrimonial voyage ; first, because I could never advise one to marry without 
her own consent ; and secondly, because I know it is to no purpose to advise her 
to refrain when she has obtained it." 

1796 President Washington issued his "Farewell address to the people of 
the United States " in the " Daily Advertiser," Philadelpliia. He presented the 
MS. copy to the editor, David C. Claypoole, and it is now preserved as a sacred 
relic in the Lenox Library, New York. This priceless address has been styled 
"Washington's legacy," and must remain unique among the possessions of the 
New World. 



"Washington reverses the rules of perspective in history, for the farther he recedes the 
nobler and grander does his figure become." 

Jaines Abraham Garfield, President of tlie United States. 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 139 

SEPTEMBER TWENTIETH. 

1765 Commenting on the Stamp Act to Colonel Dandridge, London, Wash- 
ington wrote : ^' Our whole substance does ah-eady in a manner flow to Great 
Britain, and that whatsoever contributes to lessen our importations must be 
hurtful to their manuf acturies. Many luxui-ies which we lavish our substance 
in Great Britain for can well be dispensed with, whilst the necessaries of life are 
to be had within ourselves. This consequently, will introduce frugaUty, and be 
a necessary stimulation to industry." 

1768 " Colo Burwell and myself went away to Belvoir, and Mrs. Washington 
and ye two children went to Alexandria to see ^ Inconstance, or How to Win 
Her,' acted." Washington's Diary. 

1777 At Parker's Ford, with water up to the armpits, the army crossed the 
Schuylkill, hoping to intercept the crossing of the enemy. " There was great 
difficulty in getting information," said the Commander-in-chief, " as the inhabi- 
tants are disaffected to a man." "His Excellency, General Washington was 
with the troops in person, who marched past here, the Trappe, to the Perkio- 
men. The procession lasted the whole night, and we had numerous visits from 
officers, wet breast high, who had to march in this condition during the whole 
night, cold and damp as it was, and to bear hunger and thirst at the same time." 



" The orb of his fame now in the mid heavens will increase in lustre and its power of at- 
traction, to the end of time." James Osbonie Putnam (New York). 

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIRST. 

1 780 The Commander-in-chief, accompanied by Generals Lafayette and Knox, 
reached Hartford, where he met Count de Rochambeau and Admiral de Ternay, 
and with '^ stately cordiality " welcomed them to the New World. A conference 
of war was held at the mansion of Colonel Peleg Wadsworth. There was much 
curiosity among these European officers to see the great leader, and of him they 
have left valuable pen-pictures. 

1782 At Verplanck's Point, the second anniversaiy of the meeting of Wash- 
ington and Rochambeau was devoted by the Continentals to a military reception, 
festival, and feast, in compliment to the French army. A French officer says : 
" This camp was covered with garlands and pjTamids, as so many trophies raised 
by the hand of liberty. Their most exact uniformity, the neat dress of the men, 
the glittering of their arms, their martial look and a kind of military luxury, 
gave a most magnificent appearance to this assemblage of citizens in defense of 
their country." 

1787 Returning from the Constitutional Convention, Washington notes: 
''Breakfasted in Baltimore, dined at the Widow Balls, and lodged at Major 
Snowdens, who was not at home." " Breakfasted at Bladensburg, and passing 
through George Town dined in Alexandria and reached home (with Mr. Blah-) 
about sunset, after an absence of four months and 14 days." WasJiiiigton's Diary. 



" Bom to direct the destiny of empires, his character was as majestic as the events, to which 
it was attached, were illustrious." Robert Treat Paine, Jr. (Massachusetts). 



140 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SECOND. 

1776 On this day, by the order of Sir William Howe, Captain Nathan Hale 
was executed as a spy. This noble young patriot had undertaken the hazardous 
duty of entering the enemy's hues on Long Island. His motto was: "Every 
kind of service necessary for the public good becomes honorable, by being neces- 
sary, and that all ser\dce and any death is honorable for one's country." The 
city of New York has memorialized this noble sacrifice by placing the statue of 
Nathan Hale on the spot of his execution. 

1780 General Washington and the French officers having concluded their 
conference at Hartford, Rochambeau returned to Newport. " The next morning 
Washington and suite shook hands with the hospitable Wadsworth, the worthy 
Governor Trumbull, and numerous other friends, and, amid volleys of huzzas, 
started for the headquarters of the Army." 

1781 Washington and his generals experienced heavy storms off Cape 
Henry, but reached Williamsburg this day. He notes in his journal: " I settled 
most points with Admiral de Grasse to my satisfaction, except not obtaining an 
assurance of sending ships above York, and that he could not continue his fleet 
on this station longer than the first of November." 



" 'Neath the shade "They bow no knee to Caesar, but compel 

Of the Coliseum vaulting up to heaven, The kingly Tiber to pronounce the name of 

Palace and Pantheon and Monument "Washington." 
Where half the wandering world as pilgrims 

QQx^Q Lydia H. Sigourney (Connecticut). 

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-THIRD. 

1780 Major Andr^, in disguise, and under the assumed name of " John An- 
derson," was captured near Tarrytown, by David Williams, John Paulding, and 
Isaac Van Wart, who refused all bribes offered by the unfortunate young officer. 
They conducted him to North Castle, the nearest post, and delivered him to Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Jamison. The papers found concealed in his boots were in the 
handwi-iting of General Arnold, and gave all information necessary for the cap- 
tm-e of West Point. 

1789 President Washington wrote from New York to the venerable Benjamin 
Franklin : " If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if 
to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the 
pleasing consolation to know, that you have not hved in vain. And I flatter 
myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful occurances of your 
life to be assured, that, so long as I retain my memory, you will be thought on 
with respect, veneration and affection by your sincere friend." Their regard had 
remained unchanged since first they met on the frontier in 1755, when Colonel 
Washington was on Braddock's staff, and Colonial Deputy Postmaster Frankhn 
arranged for transmission of letters and transportation for the army to the 
wilderness. 



" The character of "Washington stands alone among the great men of the world, as a pure 
man, a patriot, a wise statesman, a citizen, a ruler, a husbandman, a general and a christian." 

Charles Lanman, "Dictionary of Cotigress." 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 141 



SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH. 



1778 General Washington said to Lafayette : " Could I have conceived that 
my picture had been an object of your wishes, I should while Mr. Peale was in 
camp at Valley Forge have got hkn to have taken the best portrait of me he 
could, and presented it to you." 

1780 Returning from Hartford, when in the vicinity of Fishkill, Washington 
met the Marquis de la Luzerne, on his way to Newport to visit Roehambeau. 
The marquis persuaded him to remain over night at Fishkill instead of pushing 
on to West Point. Early the next morning, after examining the works, he set out 
for the Robinson House. 

1783 The Commander-in-chief and wife attended the annual commencement 
of Princeton College, held in the First Presbyterian Chui'ch. After the exercises 
the trustees selected Doctors Witherspoon, Rogers, and Johnes as a committee to 
request General Washington to sit for his portrait to Mr. Charles Willson Peale ; 
to be placed in the hall, where a pictm-e of George the Second had been destroyed 
by a cannon-ball. This full-length portrait, representing Washington at the Battle 
of Princeton, is still at the college. 



" I had time to see this illustrious man, if not unique in our century. His handsome and 
majestic, while at the same time open countenance, perfectly reflects his moral qualities ; he 
looks the hero, he is very cold; speaks little, but is courteous and frank. A shade of sadness 
overshadows his countenance, which is not unbecoming and gives him an interesting air." 

Count de Fersen, Aide-de-Camp to Bochambeau. 

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1774 Colonel Washington attended a Quaker meeting in the morning and St. 
Peter's in the afternoon. During the session of the first Congress the citizens of 
Philadelphia extended graceful hospitalities, and there was one famous dinner 
at the State House where five hundred guests were seated. 

1780 The Commander-in-chief arrived at Ai*nold's headquarters, and break- 
fasted with Mrs. Arnold, who said her husband had been called away. On re- 
ceiving a letter from Arnold, Washington at once sent the foUomng to Colonel 
Wade : " General Arnold is gone to the enemy. I have just received a line from 
him enclosing one to Mrs. Arnold dated on board the Vulture. From this cir- 
cumstance, the command of the Garrison for the present devolves on you." His 
letter to Congress under this cruel provocation is notable as being calm, dignified, 
and entii'ely free from bitterness. 

1794 The President, in his proclamation regarding riots in western Penn- 
sylvania, said : '' I George Washington, President of the United States, in obedi- 
ence to that high and irresistable duty consigned to me by the Constitution, to 
take care that the laws be faithfully executed; exhort all indi\dduals, officers, 
and bodies of men to contemplate with abhorrence those crimes which produce 
this resort to military coercion." 



"General Washington's conduct is above all praise. He has left a noble example to 
sovereigns and nations, present and to come. I beg you will mention both me and my sons to 
him in the most respectful terms possible. If I was not too old, I would go to Virginia to do him 
homage." Marquis of Lansdowne {England). 



142 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

SEPTEMBEE TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1777 The Commander-in-chief issued to William Henry the following order : 
"You are hereby authorized to impress all the Blankets, Shoes, Stockings and 
other Articles of Clothing, that can be spared by the Inhabitants of the County 
of Lancaster, for the use of the Continental army, paying for the same at reason- 
able Rates or giving Certificates." 

1785 Washington wrote Thomas Jefferson: "I shall take great pleasure in 
showing M. Houdon every civility and attention in my power during his stay in 
this country; for I feel myself under personal obligations to you and Dr. 
Franklin (as the state of Virginia has done me the honor to direct a statue to be 
erected in my memory), for having placed the execution in the hands of so 
eminent an artist and so worthy a character." 

1789 This day three cabinet officers nominated by Washington were con- 
fii-med: Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Secretary of State; Samuel Osgood, 
of Massachusetts, Postmaster-General; and Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, 
Attorney-General. These appointments completed the first cabinet, and the se- 
lection gave general satisfaction. 



"If I might venture to discriminate I would say that it was in the conflicts of opinion that 
succeeded the revolution that the greatness of Washington most displayed itself, for it was then 
that peril thickened in most subtle forms; that rival passions burned in intestine flames; that 
crises came demanding wider reaching and more constructive facilities than may be exhibited in 
war or higher heroism than may be avouched in battle. John W. Daniel ( Virginia), 

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1780 General Washington ordered Colonel Jamison that every precaution 
should be taken to prevent Major Andre from making his escape. " I would 
not wish him to be treated with insult, but he is to be most closely and narrowly 
watched." Andre was imprisoned in Mabie's Tavern, in the village of Tappan, in 
charge of Colonel Tallmadge, who, like every one whom this British officer met, 
was greatly distressed by his inevitable fate. 

1782 The Commander-in-chief was greatly annoyed by the delay in fixing 
the cartel for the exchange of prisoners. Two days before the American com- 
missioners had, in conformity with agreement, met the British board at Sir Guy 
Carleton's headquarters, but found that board had not been fully authorized. 

1795 From Mount Vernon, the President wrote to Edmund Randolph, late 
Secretary of State : '' No man would rejoice more than I should to find, that the 
suspicions which have resulted from the intercepted letter were unequivocally 
and honorably removed." To Thomas Pickering, Secretary of War, he wrote : 
" I shall not whilst I have the honor to administer the Government, bring a man 
into any ofiice of consequence knowingly, whose political tenets are adverse to 
the measures, which the general government are pursuing ; for this, would be a 
sort of political suicide." 



" While reaching the summit of great intellectual heights to dwell in the lofty confines of 
all, he concentrated into one inimitable whole the mental individualities of the giants who came 
within his sphere. He was the most wonderful combination of well balanced intellectual en- 
dowment that our country ever produced." Reuben T. Burrett {Kentucky). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 143 

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1780 The Commander-in-chief returned to Tappan^ and summoned a court 
of fourteen officers, General Greene presiding, " to examine into the case of Major 
Andre, Adjutant General of the British Army." The board consisted of Major- 
Generals Greene, Stirling, St. Clair, Lafayette, Howe, and Baron Steuben; 
Brigadier-Generals Parsons, James Clinton, King, Glover, Paterson, Hand, 
Huntington, and Stark, John Laurance. was Judge- Advocate General. -5t/\A^ 

1781 " Having debarked all the Troops and their Baggage, marched and en- 
camped them in front of the City, and having with some difficulty obtained 
horses and waggons sufficient to move our field Artillery, Intrenching Tools, and 
such other articles as were indispensably necessary, we commenced our march 
for the Investiture of the Enemy at York. The American Continental, and 
French troops formed one column on the left, the first in advance, the militia 
composed the right column. The line being formed, all the troops officers and 
men lay on their arms all night." Washington's Diary. 

1792 The President wished the Secretary of War " to keep the Army as com- 
pact as possible, for the purpose of disciplining and training the men to such kinds 
of manoeuvres and firings, as are proper for Indian warfare." 



" Little remains to be said at this day touching the character of Washington. Upon the life 
of no personage in American history has fallen an afterglow so clear, so stedfast, and so 
beautiful. His memory has the felicity, rare among men, and rarest among great men, that it is 
sullied by no taint, obscured by no doubt, disturbed by no dispute." 

Edward John Phelps {Vermont). 

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-NINTH. 

1780 The board of general officers appointed by General Washington ren- 
dered a report that "Major Andre, Adjutant General of the British Army, 
ought to be considered as a Spy from the Enemy, and that agreeable to the Law 
and usage of Nations, it is their opinion he ought to suffer death." This verdict 
was promptly approved by the Commander-in-chief. 

1781 " Spent this day in reconnoitering the enemy's position, & determining 
upon a plan of attack and approach which must be done without the assistance 
of shipping above the Town as the Admiral declined hazarding any vessels on 
that station." Washington's Diary. 

1794 On the eve of setting out for Carlisle, to inspect the troops, Washing- 
ton wrote his manager at Mount Vernon " to give his sister, Mrs. Lewis a mule, 
if she sends for one. Let it be a broke one, and good, but not the very best." 
With the militia ordered out were five of his nephews, two officers and three 
privates, — namely, Major George Lewis, commandant; Major Lawrence Lewis, 
aide to General Morgan; Howell Lewis, private; and Samuel and Lawrence 
Washington, light-horsemen. 



" He seemed instinctively to look through men and know the extent of their capacity to 
understand, and their abilities. From this it came that the heads of departments through his 
advice were filled with such extraordinary integrity and talent for exertion, and this was one 
circumstance which effectually conduced to America's triumph." 

Nathan Strong, D. D. {Connecticut). 



144 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

SEPTEMBER THIRTIETH. 

1757 Colonel Washington said in a letter to his mother : '' In answer to my 
brother Charles Marriage I shall observe, that if there is no other objection than 
the one you mention, it may soon be removed : and that Mrs. Thornton if she 
believes I am capable of taking these ungenerous advantages, knows little of 
the principles which govern my conduct. However I suppose Mrs. Thornton is 
actuated by prudent motives and therefore would be safe. If she wiU get any 
Instrument of writing drawn I will sign it, provided it does not effect me in 
other respects than her daughter's fortune, if my brother dies under age." 

1779 From West Point, Washington wrote Lafayette : *' I have had great 
pleasure in the visit which the Chevalier de la Luzerne, and Monsieur Marbois 
did me the honor to make at this camp ; for both of whom I have imbibed the 
most favorable impressions. The Chevalier till he had announced himself to 
Congress did not choose to be received in his public character." 

1781 '^ The enemy abandoned all their exterior works & the position they 
had taken without the Town, & retired within their Interior works of defence 
in the course of last night — immediately upon which we possessed them & made 
those on our left very serviceable to us. We also began two enclosed works 
on the right of Pidgeon Hill — between that & the ravine above More's Mill." 
Washington's Diary. 



"Immediately anterior to the Revolution of Independence, two great doctrines were de- 
veloped, both in Europe and America, supported and elaborated by the teachings of many great 
men. These doctrines related to the principles of liberty as the purpose of government, and 
the complete differentiation of its triune functions as executive, legislative and judicial depart^ 
ments. At this time these doctrines were not embodied in the constitution of any great nation, 
but existed only as theories. The opportunity came for their embodiment by the declaration 
of independence. Had they been left in the custody of doctrinaires, however eloquent, they 
would have met with the same fate that befel them in the French revolution, where they were 
soon overwhelmed by despotism. What was needed was a man who could fully gi-asp the prin- 
ciples and apply them to concrete facts in constructive statesmanship. Washington was this 
o'ertowering genius." Major John W. Powell {New York). 





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OCTOBER FIRST. 

1780 The Commander-in-chief refused Major Andre's request that he might 
die the death of a soldier, — i. e., be shot, — saying it was impossible to grant it, 
though " he was more unfortunate than criminal." Washington also declined to 
receive a commission sent under flag of truce by Sir Henry Clinton to negotiate 
for the life of Andre. There is a legend that Mrs. Eoger Morris — nee Mary 
Philipse — also pleaded for a pardon. Though deeply distressed, Washington 
acted upon the findings of the court, and issued the order, "that Major Andre 
be executed to-morrow at 12 o'clock precisely ; a Batallion of 80 Files from each 
wing to attend the Execution." It was thought the only price of Andre's life was 
the relinquishment of Arnold, which the British could not consent to. 

1781 General Washington, Colonel Duportail, and several engineers, with an 
advance-guard of fifty men, reconnoitered this afternoon within three hundred 
yards of the enemy's main works, 'Vhich is the town of York," and deliberately 
studied their distribution of forces. 

1789 " The following company dined here to-day, viz. : Mr. Reed of the Sen- 
ate, Col" Bland and Mr. Madison of the House of Representatives, Mr. Osgood 
and his lady, Col. Duer, his lady and Miss Brown, CoP Lewis Morris and lady, 
lady Christian Griffin and her daughter, and Judge Duane and Mrs. [General 
Nathaniel] Greene. Dispatched many of the Com'ns for the Judiciary — Judges, 
Marshals, and Attorneys this day, with the Acts." Washington's Diary. 

1794 President Washington, accompanied by several of his cabinet, left for 
Philadelphia, for the scene of the whisky riots. Passing through Reading on 
the 3d, he reached the capital of Pennsylvania. 



"Land of the West! though passing brief the 
record of thine age, 

Thou hast a name that darkens all on his- 
tory's wide page ! 

Let all the blast of fame ring out — thine 
shall be loudest far ; 

Let others boast their satellites — thou art a 
planet star. 



"Thou hast a name whose characters of light 

shall ne'er depart ; 
'T is stamped upon the dullest brain, and 

warms the coldest heart ; 
A war-cry fit for any land where Freedom 's 

to be won : 
Land of the West! it stands alone — it is thy 
Washington." 

Eliza Cook (England). 



10 li5 



146 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

OCTOBER SECOND. 

1775 "Any officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier, who shall hereafter 
be detected playing at toss-up, pitch, and hustle, or any other games of chance, in 
or neai" the camp or villages bordering on the encampments shall without delay 
be confined and punished for disobedience of orders. The General does not 
mean by the above to discourage sports of exercise or recreation, he only means 
to discountenance and punish gaming." Orderly Booh {Cambridge). 

1780 The execution of Major Andre took place at the time and in the manner 
determined. Dr. Thatcher says : '^ Not a murmur or a sigh ever escaped him and 
the civilities and attentions bestowed on him were politely acknowledged. . . . 
The fatal hour having arrived almost all our general and Field officers, except- 
ing his Excellency and his staff were present on horseback; melancholy and 
gloom pervaded all ranks, and the scene was affectingly awful." 

1782 "Washington, writing to General Lincoln, Secretary of War, of the dis- 
content of the army, said : " While in the field, I think it may be kept from 
breaking out into acts of outrage; but when we retire into Winter-quarters, 
unless the storm is previously dissipated, I cannot be at ease respecting the 
consequences. It is high time for a peace." 



" The talents and the great actions of General "Washington have secured to him, in the 
eyes of all Europe, the truly sublime title of the ' Liberator of America.' " 

Count d'Estaing {France). 

OCTOBER THIRD. 

1775 The court martial ordered by General Washington at Cambridge to 
consider the charges against Benjamin Church, Medical Director-General (the 
first traitor), met and rendered an opinion the following day. The findings of 
the court were submitted by the General to Congress. The Commander-in- 
chief requested that a powerful Oneida chief, accompanied by the missionary 
Rev. Samuel Kirkland, be allowed to attend the court martial, adding : " I have 
prepared a present for him on his return." 

1789 President Washington issued, through the '^ Philadelphia News," the 
first national thanksgiving proclamation : '' That Thursday, November 26th, be 
devoted by the people of the states to the service of that. Great and Glorious 
Being, who is the beneficent author of all the good that is, or will be." In his 
diary he wrote : " Sat to Mr. Rammage near two hours to-day, who was drawing 
a miniature picture of me for Mrs. Washington." This exquisite miniature has 
been recently placed before the public, having been lost sight of for nearly a 
century. It is set to be worn as a locket in a dainty gold case with the monogram 
G. W. and a lock " of my dear Lady's hair " in the back. 



"I should be ashamed of my country if in further speaking of what "Washington has done 
for the sentiment of his country, it was necessary to make any excuse for a reference to his 
constant love and fond reverence, as boy and man, for his mother. The filial love is an attri- 
bute of American manhood, a badge which invites our trust and confidence, and an indispensable 
element of American greatness." Grover Cleveland, President of the United States. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 147 



OCTOBER FOURTH. 



1777 The Battle of Gerraantown was fought this day— the British under 
Howe ; the Continentals led by Washington. The engagement lasted three hours, 
and resulted in disaster to the Americans, with a loss of 1000 men. The conflict 
was chiefly around the Chew House, in which five companies of British were well 
protected. Washington wrote to Congress : '' In the midst of the most promis- 
ing appearances, when everything gave the most flattering hopes of victory, the 
troops began suddenly to retreat, and entirely left the field, in spite of every 
effort that could be made to rally them." 

1778 Washington wrote to Gouverneur Morris : " Can we carry on the war much 
longer ? Certainly not, unless some measures can be devised and speedily executed 
to restore the credit of our currency, restrain extorsion and punish forestallers. 
Without these can be effected, what funds can stand the present expenses of the 
Army and what oflScer can bear the weight of prices that every necessary article is 
now got to ? A Rat in the shape of a horse is not to be bought for less than £200." 

1794 President Washington spent the night and morning at Harrisburg, the 
guest of Senator William Maclay, at the old Harris Mansion. He received and 
answered an address from the Burghers, and gathered all possible information 
regarding the situation in the insubordinate districts. " He forded the Susque- 
hannah in a coach, driving it himself." 



"Well pleased, I give each anxious care "No civil strife, or foreign wars I fear, 

To plotting knaves and coward fools, While Washington our conq'ring army rules." 

John Farke {Delaware). 

OCTOBER FIFTH. 

1775 The first action of Congress upon naval matters was a resolution to 
instruct the Commander-in-chief to equip one or more merchantmen for the pur- 
pose of capturing " two North Country brigs of no force known," which were re- 
ported to have sailed with supplies for Canada. The governments of Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts Bay several months previous had re- 
sponded to Washington's demands and equipped small crafts. 

1780 Washington wrote to General Cadwalader : " We have no magazines, 
nor money to form them ; and in a little time we shall have no men, if we had 
money to pay them. We have lived upon expedients till we can live no longer. 
In a word, the history of the war is a history of false hopes and temporary 
devices, instead of system and economy." 

1782 Congress ordered Major-General Gates to rejoin the army, and take 
such command " as the Commander-in-chief shall direct." He this day reported 
to Washington at Verplanck's Point; it was their first meeting since the dis- 
astrous Battle of Camden. The interview excited the curiosity of the officers of 
the French and Continental armies, and all admired the courage with which 
Gates bore his misfortunes, and the remarkable freedom from restraint of both 
gentlemen. 



" Nor is the greatness of Washington to be attributed in any degree to that good fortune to 
which so many military commanders have owed their fame and success. His whole life was one 
of constant difficulty and frequent disappointments." Cyrus B. Edmonds {England). 



148 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



OCTOBER SIXTH. 



1770 Colonel Washington, with Dr. Craik and three negroes, began a journey 
of nine weeks to the Ohio. It was for the purpose of locating lands granted by 
the colony to the officers and soldiers who had served against the French and 
Indians. He was constantly urging the Executive of Virginia to complete the 
grant and fulfil the promises of the colony. 

1777 The stragglers from the field of Germantown reached the encampment 
at Pennybackers Mills. The following morning the Commander-in-chief received 
a committee of Quakers appointed at the yearly meeting of Friends in Philadel- 
phia, for the purpose of laying before " William Howe, General of the British 
Army and George Washington, General of the American Army," their testimony 
against war, and explaining their position as noncombatants. To prevent the 
peacemakers from doing mischief, Washington sent them under guard to Potts- 
ville for a few days. 

1781 " Before Morning the Trenches were in such forwardness as to cover 
the men from the enemy's fire. The work was executed with so much secresy 
and despatch that the enemy were, I believe, totally ignorant of our labor till the 
light of the Morning discovered it to them." Washington's Diary. 



" The day is broke, my boys, push ou! " When he commands, we will obey, 

And follow, follow Washington. Through rain or sun, by night or day, 



'T is he that leads the way, my boys. Determined to be free, my boys 

'T is he that leads the way. Determined to be free." 



Revolutionary Song (1781). 
OCTOBER SEVENTH. 

1780 " The main body of the army, the forage about Orangetown and the 
lower country being exhausted, moved this morning, and is now arrived here 
[Paramus]. We have had a cold, wet and tedious march, on account of the feeble 
state of our Cattle, and have not a drop of rum to give the troops." Washington 
to Congress. 

1785 Jean Antoine Houdon, the eminent French sculptor, made a life-cast of 
Washington's head, which he left at Mount Vernon. This plaster, which happily 
was not taken to France, must forever remain undisputed the head of Wash- 
ington. The beautiful portrait on the domestic letter-stamp is after Houdon. 
From molds, when in America, the artist produced the head from which he 
modeled the marble statue at Richmond and that plaster bust is now in the 
"Salle Houdon," Louvre, Paris. 

1837 The remains of George Washington and Martha, his wife, were removed 
from the old tomb at Mount Vernon and placed in white marble sarcophagi in 
the vault erected on the spot selected by Washington and " built of brick," as 
directed in his will. On the centenary of his birth, Congress the second time re- 
quested that his body be placed in the avy^i under the Capitol which was provided 
and intended for the resting-place of the Father of His Country. 



" Sweet be thy slumbers, chief of Vernon. Thy soul was like the beam of heaven, thine arm 
was like a falling tower, thy deeds were mighty deeds of heroes. To thy fame thy country shall 
raise a stone on high to speak to future times with its grey head of moss." 

Rev. John Blair Linn, A. M. {Pennsylvania.) 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 149 

OCTOBER EIGHTH. 

1760 Colonel Washington, at Williamsburg, Va., gave a theater-party, his 
tickets amounting to seven pounds, eleven shillings, and three pence. Through- 
out his career he was a great lover of amusements and found frequent relaxation 
at the theater. 

1778 General Washington, from headquarters. Colonel John Brinkerhoff's 
residence, Fishkill, visited the hospital at the "Robinson House," inquiring 
minutely into the condition of the sick and wounded. His manner and sym- 
pathy were very comforting to the inmates, and his visit was unannounced and 
without ceremony, that he might better judge of its management. There was a 
rumor that the enemy had determined to leave the city of New York, but Wash- 
ington did not think they would venture to attack the French fleet at Boston, 
under Count d'Estaing, as at this advanced season there was great danger in 
taking a fleet round Cape Cod. 

1785 Washington said: "The Agricultural Society, lately established in 
Philadelphia, promises extensive usefulness, if it is prosecuted with spirit. I 
wish most sincerely that every State in the Union would institute similar ones ; 
and that these societies would correspond fully and freely with each other and 
communicate all useful discoveries founded on practice, with a due attention to 
climate, soil and seasons, to the public." 



" The birthday of Washington shall be an eternal festival wherever a free man speaks the 
English tongue." William Charles Macready {England). 

OCTOBER NINTH. 

1774 Washington wrote Captain Mackenzie, who had served under him dur- 
ing the French war, then in the British army at Boston : " Permit me with the 
freedom of a friend, to express my sorrow that fortune should place you in a ser- 
vice, that must fix curses to the latest posterity upon the contrivers, and, if suc- 
cess (which, by the by, is impossible) accompanies it, execrations upon all those, 
who have been instrumental in the execution." 

1777 The army moved from Pennybackers Mills and camped near the Bap- 
tist meeting-house in Montgomery township. General Francis Nash, of North 
Carolina, who fell at Germantown, was buried with military honors in the 
grounds of the church. His last words were: " From the first dawn of the Revo- 
lution, I have been on the side of Liberty and my country." The Commander- 
in-chief requested "All officers whose circumstances will admit of it, will attend 
and pay their respects to a brave man who died in defense of his country." 

1781 " Two or three of our batteries being now prepared to open on the 
town, his Excellency, George Washington, put the match to the first gun, and a 
furious discharge of cannon and mortars immediately followed, and Earl Corn- 
wallis has received his first Salutation." 



"His unaffected piety, his uncommon virtues have caused him to be revered in every cor- 
ner of the earth, and ranked him among the best of generals, the best of statesmen, the best of 
men." John Andrews, D. D. {Maryland.) 

10* 



150 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



OCTOBER TENTH. 



1784 Writing to Governor Benjamin Harrison upon the importance of in- 
ternal improvements, Washington urged him to stimulate the Assembly to pro- 
mote inland navigation, and open communication between the Potomac, the 
James, and the northwestern rivers and lakes. He foresaw and again predicted 
the mingling of the waters of Lake Erie and the Hudson through the means of 

a canal. 

1787 Washington said: "The Constitution that is submitted, is not free 
from imperfections, but there is as few radical defects in it as could vrell be ex- 
pected, considering the heterogenous mass of which the Convention was com- 
posed and the diversity of interests that are to be attended to." 

1789 " I set off about 9 o'clock in my barge to visit Mr. Prince's fruit gar- 
dens and shrubberies at Flushing on Long Island. The shrubs were trifling and 
the flowers not numerous. The inhabitants of this place showed us what respect 
they could, by making the best use of one cannon to salute. On our return, we 
stopped at the seats of General and Mr. Gouverneur Morris, and viewed a barn, 
of which I have heard the latter speak much, belonging to his farm, but it was 
not of a construction to strike my fancy, nor did the conveniences of it at all 
answer their cost." Washington's Diary. 



"Let us then, discarding all inferior strife, hold up to our children the example of Wash- 
ington as the symbol, not merely of wisdom, but of purity and truth." 

Charles Francis Adams (Massachusetts). 

OCTOBER ELEVENTH. 

1755 Colonel Washington, from Winchester, wrote to Governor Dinwiddle 
of his many perplexities in organizing the defense of the frontier. " No orders 
are obeyed, but what a party of soldiers, or my own drawn sword enforces ; 
without this a single horse, for the most urgent occasion cannot be had. How- 
ever I have given up none, where his Majesty's service requires the contrary, 
nor will I do it unless they execute what they threaten, ' to blow out my brains.'" 

1786 " Allowed all my People to go to the races in Alexandria on one of 
three days as best comported with their respective businesses ; leaving careful 
persons on the plantations." Washington's Diary. 

1794 The President informed the Secretary of State that he had determined 
to remain at Carlisle, Pa., where he was the guest of Colonel Ephraim Blaine, 
until he saw the troops in motion, and he believed the insurgents were scared. 
It was rumored that while they scorned the militia, they greatly dreaded Daniel 
Morgan and his Virginia woodsmen. This officer was told " to impress upon 
the army that they were agents of civil power." During his stay Washington 
reviewed the troops, became familiar with the situation, and entertained at din- 
ner the Governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey with their families. 



"Your influence over your countrymen, in public affairs, and in the many services and 
virtues which gave it to you, placed and maintained you upon that mighty eminence, from 
which the man who happens to be born every three or four hundred years, looks down with 
lofty pride and tranquillity upon kings and great dignitaries. Individuals and nations look up 
with respect and admiration ; and regret, for the happiness and honor of humanity, he does not 
command the whole world." Marquis de la Itouarie {France). 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 151 



OCTOBER TWELFTH. 



1781 " Began our second parallel within 300 yards of the enemy s lines and 
got it so well advanced in the course of the night as to cover the men before 
morning. I cannot but acknowledge the infinite obligations I am under to His 
Excellency, the Count de Rochambeau, the Marquis St. Simon, and the other 
general officers, for the assistance which they afford me. The experience of many 
of those gentlemen, in the business before us, is of the utmost advantage in the 
present operation. They seem actuated by one spirit, that of supporting the 
honor of the allied arms, and pushing their approaches with the utmost vigor." 
Washington's Diary. 

1783 Washington began to feel restive under delays, as is indicated in this 
extract from a letter to Marquis de Chastellux : " Having the appearance, and 
indeed the enjoyment of peace, without a final declaration of it, I, who am only 
waiting for the ceremonials, or till the British forces shall have taken leave of 
New York, am placed in an awkward and disagreeable situation, it being my 
anxious desire to quit the walks of public life, and under the shadow of my own 
vine and my own fig tree to seek that relaxation, which a mind, that has been 
constantly upon the stretch for more than eight years, stands so much in need of." 



" His sword a flame before the eye " His speech a rocket arching high 

Of red and furious handed Mars. And blossoming to fadeless stars." 

John Henry Boner {South Carolina). 

OCTOBER THIRTEENTH. 

1780 General Washington said : " The want of provisions is a clog to our 
operations in every quarter. We have several times, in the course of this cam- 
paign, been without either Bread or Meat and have never had more than four or 
five days before hand." He wrote to Colonel Laurens, from Preakness : " But 
for the egregious folly or bewildered conception, of Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson, 
who seemed lost in astonishment, and not to have known what he was doing, I 
should undoubtedly have got Arnold. Andre has met his fate, and with that for- 
titude, which was to be expected from an accomplished man and gallant officer." 

1789 Congress having adjourned, President Washington resolved, after con- 
sulting his cabinet, to make a tour through the Northeastern States. He re- 
ceived at the Executive residence, New York, '* a delegation of the people called 
Quakers," and spoke to them at length upon religious freedom in this country. 

1792 The corner-stone of the Executive Mansion, familiarly called "The 
White House," was laid with masonic and civic ceremonies upon the site selected 
by Washington. It is said to have been so called in compliment to Mrs. Wash- 
ington — the name of her home on the Pamunkey River. 



" White peaks of mountains living in the blue " Such grandeur shall be theirs of white, 
And calm cathedral of the sky, Silent, yet speaking to each age as bom 

Whose constellations walk in saintly hue. Of one whose manhood grows from height to 

A Sabbath silence speaking thoughts most height, 

high. His fame a bright star in our country's morn ." 

James B. Cowdin. 



152 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



OCTOBER FOURTEENTH. 



1774 Colonel Washington approved of the " Declaration of Colonial Rights," 
and, later, the "Address to the King," ''Address to the People of Canada," and the 
"Address to the People of Grreat Britain." There is no record that he either 
spoke upon or drafted these protests, which immediately commanded the ad- 
miration of the world, and remain monuments of the wisdom and statesmanship 
of the first Colonial Congress. 

1781 The enemy's advance works were taken at Yorktown — the left by the 
French under Baron Viomenil, and the right by the American Light Infantry 
under Marquis de Lafayette. The Commander-in-chief said: " The bravery dis- 
played by the attacking troops was emulous and praiseworthy. Few cases have 
exhibited stronger proofs of Intripidity, coolness and firmness than were shown 
upon this occasion." 

1789 "Wrote several letters to France, and about 7 o'clock in the afternoon 
made an informal visit with Mrs. Washington to the Count de Moustier and 
Madame de Brehan, to take leave of them. Into the hands of the former I com- 
mitted these letters, viz: to the Count d'Estaing, Count de Rochambeau, the 
Marq's de la Fayette and the Marq's de la Rouirie." Washington'' s Diary. 



"I have no need to speak of General Washington's composure ; it is well known, but this 
great man is a thousand times more noble at the head of his army than at any other time." 

Baron Cromot du Bourg {France). 

OCTOBER FIFTEENTH. 

1777 General Washington received the celebrated Duche letter, — brought to 
him by Mrs. Hugh Ferguson, of Graham Park, — which he at once transmitted to 
Congress. The Orderly Book of this date says : " The General has the respected 
pleasure of informing the Army of the success of the troops under the command 
of General Gates over General Burgoyne's army on the 7th. The second battle of 
Stillwater." 

1785 "After candles were lighted George Aug. Washington and Frances 
Bassett were married by Mr. Grayson." The day before, the chariot went up to 
Alexandria " for Miss Salley Ramsay & Miss Kitty Washington to be Brides- 
maids," and "Mr. Burwell Bassett & Mr. George Washington went to the Clerks 
office and thence to Colo Masons for a License «& returned to dinner having ac- 
complished their business." The sculptor Houdon was at this wedding. These 
events are noted in Washington's diary. 

1789 President Washington, in his coach, accompanied by Major Jackson and 
Tobias Lear, his secretaries, and a modest retinue, set out from New York on his 
tour through the Northeastern States. He was escorted beyond the city limits 
by Chief Justice Jay, Secretary Hamilton, and General Knox. He reached Rye 
that evening, staying overnight at Mrs. Haviland's, " a very neat and decent Inn." 



"He made no mistakes ; there are no black spots on his reputation. For sound judgment, 
integrity, symmetry and commanding dignity of character he has no superior among gi-eat men. 
He feared God and loved righteousness. His sole ambition, his highest happiness was to do his 
duty and to serve his coimtry." PhiUp Schaff, D. D., LL. D. (Sivitzerland) . 




PLASTER CAST OF WASHINGTON, 
By Houdon. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 153 

OCTOBER SIXTEENTH. 

1785 Washington wrote from Mount Vernon thanking Mr. A. Donaldson 
for " the model of your Hippopotamus." This was a machine for lifting fertiliz- 
ing mud from the bottoms of rivers, which Washington was desirous of experi- 
menting with on the Potomac. His attention had been called to this dredging- 
machine by Mr. HoUingshead of Maryland, and he had become much interested 
in its probable usefulness. 

1789 " Destructive evidence of British cruelty are yet visible both in Nor- 
walk and Fairfield as there are chimneys of many burnt houses standing in them 
yet. The principal export from Norwalk and Fairfield is Horses and Cattle, 
salted Beef and Pork, Lumber and Indian Corn and in a small degree Wheat and 
Flour." Washington's Diary. 

1792 ''Let the hands at the Mansion Hous grub weU, and perfectly pi-o- 
pare the old clover lot, preparatory for grass, with which it is to be laid down. 
When I say grub well, I mean that everything which is not to remain as trees, 
should be taken up by the roots." Washington to his manager. 



"George, on thy virtues ofteu have I dwelt, "Yet thou 'rt a man — although, perhaps, the 
And still the theme is grateful to mine ear; first ; 

Thy gold let chemists ten times over melt, But man at best is but a being fraU; 

From dross and base alloy they '11 find it And since with error human nature 's cursed, 
clear. I marvel not that thou shouldst sometimes 

fail." Philip Freneau {New Jersey). 

OCTOBER SEVENTEENTH. 

1781 "At ten o'clock the enemy beat a parley, and Lord CornwaUis pro- 
posed a cessation of hostilities for 24 hours, that the commissioners might meet 
at the house of a Mr. Moore (in the rear of our first parallel) to settle terms for 
the surrender of the posts of York and Gloucester." Washington'' s Diary. 

1789 President Washington reached New Haven, and remained until Mon- 
day morning. He says : " I received the eompKment of a visit from the Gov- 
ernor, Mr. Huntington, the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Wolcott, and the Mayor, 
Mr. Roger Sherman. The city of New Haven occupies a good deal of ground, 
but is thinly, though regularly laid out and built. The number of Souls in it 
are said to be about 4,000. There is an Episcopal Church, and 3 Congregational 
Meeting-Houses, and a College, in which there are at this time about 120 Students 
under auspices of Doct'r Styles." 

1794 At Cumberland, Md., the President reviewed the militia under General 
Lee. Here on the uplands of the Alleghanies forty years before as a Colonial 
officer he had disciplined and encouraged his pioneer soldiers to meet the wily 
savage foe; here in active service and command he had obtained his military 
education. 



"Washington's consistency was eminent. He united the soldier, the statesman, and the 
citizen. No act belonged to one part of his character while it did not agree with the whole. 
No plea in one profession excused the manners in another. His character was equally good, 
whether he directed the Soldier, honored the Laws, or blessed a Citizen." 

William Bently {Massachusetts, 1799). 



154 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

OCTOBER EIGHTEENTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief selected the Polish Count Thaddeus Kosci- 
usko '^ Engineer of Continental Service," with the rank of colonel, for which 
position he was well equipped, having graduated at the military colleges of 
Warsaw and Versailles. Washington asked him when he reached Cambridge 
what he could do. He replied : " Try me ; I am ready to do anything." Con- 
gress, on the recommendation of Washington seven years later, made him 
brigadier-general, "for long, faithful and honorable service in the American 
Army." 

1777 From Wentz House, Worcester, Pa., Washington thus announced to 
his troops the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga on the 14th : " Let every face 
brighten and every heart expand with grateful joy and praise to the Supreme 
Disposer of all events, who has granted us this signal success." A service of 
thanksgiving was ordered at five o'clock. 

1781 Two American commissioners, Colonel Laurens and Viscount deNoailles, 
appointed by General Washington, and Colonel Dundas and Major Ross, repre- 
senting Lord Cornwallis, spent the day drafting "Articles of Capitulation " at the 
Moore House, Temple Farm, Yorktown. The old house is still standing. 



" My brave fellows, let no sensation of satisfaction for the triumphs you have gained induce 
you to insult your fallen enemy. Let no shouting, no clamorous huzzahing, increase their mor- 
tification. Posterity will huzzah for us." 

Washington's address to his troops at the surrender of Yorktown. 

OCTOBER NINETEENTH. 

1781 " In the morning early, I had them [the articles of surrender] copied 
and sent word to Cornwallis that I expected to have them signed at eleven o'clock 
and the Garrison would march out at two o'clock, both of which was accordingly 
done." At twelve o'clock, the Americans on the right, the French on the left, 
formed a line which extended over a mile. The captured garrison filed out be- 
tween the two silent armies with shouldered arms, colors cased, and drums beat- 
ing a British march, an adaptation of that popular air, " The World is Turned 
Upside Down." General O'Hara, representing Lord Cornwallis, who was too ill 
to appear, surrendered his sword to Major-General Lincoln, who conducted the 
British troops to a large field, where their ai'ms were stacked. 

1789 President Washington breakfasted at Wallingford, Conn. He said: 
"At this place we seethe white mulberry growing, raised from the seed, to feed 
the silk-worm. We also saw samples of lustring (exceedingly good) which had 
been manufactured from the cocoon raised in this town, and silk thread very 
fine. This, except the weaving is the work of private families, without interfer- 
ence with other business, and is likely to turn out a beneficial amusement." 



"Washington is so great a figure of an heroical patriot that one may not ventiire to touch 
upon his glorious memory without deep reflection, and especially when belonging to the country 
where had lived in ancieat times the gi-eat original of the American Pericles." 

Alexander Bizo Bangahe (Greece). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 155 



OCTOBER TWENTIETH. 



1780 General Washington approved of Colonel Henry Lee's plan for the cap- 
ture of Benedict Arnold, then in New York, and agreed to give the stated reward 
if he be secured alive. A brave non-commissioned ofiBcer, Sergeant-Major John 
Champs, of Lee's Legion, deserted for that purpose, but the project failed owing 
to Arnold's suddenly changing his quarters. Sergeant Champs came near losing 
his life when deserting. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief, at Yorktown, in a general order, congratulated 
the officers and men of his army upon " the glorious event of yesterday." He 
paroled the British officers, provided subsistence for prisoners, and ordered a 
service of thanksgiving conducted by all chaplains in the army. 

1789 President Washington, at Hartford, examined with interest the woolen 
manufactures. He says : " Their broad cloth's are not of the first quality as yet, 
but they are good ; as are their coatings, cassimeres, serges, and everlastings. 
Of the first, that is broadcloth, I ordered a suit to be sent to me at New York, 
and of the latter a whole piece to make breeches for my servants." In January 
he notes that at Mrs. Washington's levee, "I was dressed in a suit of clothes 
made at the woolen manufactory at Hartford, as the buttons also were." 



" He never trifled away his moments, but redeemed his time with a vigilance which was not 
less remarkable than the other traits in his extraordinary character." 

Samuel Greene Arnold (Rhode Island). 

OCTOBER TWENTY-FIRST. 

1781 "The prisoners began their march [to Winchester, Virginia, Fort 
Frederick, and Frederickstown, Maryland], and I set out for the Fleet to pay my 
respects and offer my thanks to the Admiral for his important services." WasJi- 
ington's Diary. Washington wrote Congress : " Nothing could equal the zeal of 
our allies, but the emulating spirit of the American officers, whose ardor would 
not suffer their exertions to be exceeded." 

1789 The President, at Springfield, Mass., examined the Continental stores. 
He remarks : " There is great equality in the people of this State. Few or no 
opulent men and no poor ones. Great similitude in their buildings." The fol- 
lowing day, at Worcester, he was requested to leave his coach and ride through 
the town on horseback, so that he might be better seen by the enthusiastic 
people. 

1794 On leaving Bedford, Pa., the President complimented Henry Lee, com- 
mander-in-chief of the militia : " Convey to my fellow citizens in arms my warm 
acknowledgments for the readiness, with which they have seconded me in the 
most delicate and momentous duty the chief magistrate of a free people can have 
to perform." 



*'Ah, hero of our younger race ! "Father and leader, prophet sure 

Great builder of a temple new! Whose will in vast works shall endure, 

Euler, who sought no lordly place ! How shall we praise him on this day of days, 

Warrior, who sheathed the sword he drew ! Great son of fame who has no need of praise ?" 

Harriet Monroe (Illinois, at Chicago, 1892). 



156 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

OCTOBEE TWENTY-SECOND. 

1780 Washington wrote to General G-reene : " Congress having been pleased 
to authorize me to appoint an oflficer to the command of the Southern army, in 
the room of Major-General Gates, till an inquiry can be had into his conduct as 
therein directed, I have thought proper to choose you for that purpose." 

1782 The French allies crossed the Hudson at West Point, leaving for Bos- 
ton, to embark early in December for the West Indies. There were sad partings 
between these veterans who had learned to respect and love one another. Toge- 
ther they had endured the fatigue of long marches and stood side by side at 
Yorktown. Let every American heart cherish the memory of the French who 
fought for us, and the unfortunate King and Queen our truest friends. 

1786 General Washington offered to adopt his namesake, the eldest son of 
General Greene, and " to give him as good an education as this country, (I mean 
North America), will afford ; and will bring him up to either of the genteel pro- 
fessions that his friends may choose, or his own inclination may lead him to pur- 
sue ; at my own cost and charge." 



" Washington in short was always and everywhere great. Great in peace, as he was great in 
war. Great in council as he was great in action. In every circumstance, every department, 
civil or military, he was great, and as hath been observed, he was good as he was great. Rome had 
her Caesar, Greece her Alexander, Sweden her Charles XII. ; but we, and of this as our superior 
glory we will ever boast ; We have had our Washington." 

Colonel Isaac Eoberdeau (France). 

OCTOBER TWENTY-THIRD. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief took possession of Miller's House, White 
Plains. Since the evacuation of Long Island the army had suffered greatly from 
fevers and lack of comforts, and the General was anxious to see them settled in 
winter quarters. In the two days' march from Harlem he was continuously in 
the saddle, superintending the selection of camps and detailing squads to begin 
works of defense. 

1786 Washington entertained at Mount Vernon William Drayton and Ralph 
Izard, from South Carolina. He gave them a most interesting and exhaustive ac- 
count of his acquaintance with Arnold, which Tobias Lear preserved in his 
journal, showing that the slightest suspicion of Arnold's integrity had never en- 
tered Washington's mind. 

1793 On account of yeUow fever, the President decided not to take his family 
to Philadelphia. He wrote to the Attorney-General : "AU idea of furnishing and 
keeping a house myself, being unprovided with servants, or means of any sort, 
ought to be banished entirely, and some rooms, even in a tavern (if I could be 
retired in them,) taken in preference." 



" It was reserved for Washington, 'h the midst of civil war, in every emergency, both in ad- 
verse and prosperous circumstances, to practice the great principles of republics ; a subordina- 
tion of the military to the civil authority, and finally to seize the first opportunity that offered 
to lay his wreaths and his power on the altar of an emancipated country." 

James Barbour (Virginia). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 157 



OCTOBER TWENTY-FOURTH. 



1775 The Commander-in-chief notified Congress of the threats against all 
ports, and the desti'uction of Falmouth, " an outrage exceeding in barbarity and 
cruelty every hostile act practiced among civilized nations." '' Signed contract 
with one John Fisk for a supply of powder, not exceeding twenty tons, at four -j 
shillings a pound ; to be delivered at Newburyport or some convenient post to ^ 
Cambridge." Washington's Diary. 

1789 President Washington was received at Cambridge with distinguished 
honors. He reviewed a body of militia on the commons, from the spot where, 
fourteen years before, he had first seen the Continental army. Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Samuel Adams, with the Executive Council of Massachusetts, the City 
Government, and many distinguished gentlemen, met and welcomed him to Bos- 
ton. Fifty civic societies followed in his train, and his military escort was a 
thousand strong, commanded by General Brooks. He was mounted on a white 
horse, and passed under a triumphal arch bearing the inscription, " The man 
who unites all hearts." Shouts, smiles, and tears greeted him through the streets 
of the city he had delivered. 



" Modern history has not so spotless a character to commemorate. It is the highest glory 
of England to have given birth, even amid Transatlantic wilds, to such a man ; and if she can- 
not number him among those who have extended her provinces or augmented her dominions, 
she may at least feel a legitimate pride in the victories which he achieved, and the great quali- 
ties he exhibited in the contest with herself." Sir Archibald Alison (England). 

OCTOBER TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief refused to allow Major Christopher French, a 
paroled prisoner, the privilege of wearing his sword, but said : '^ I wish you all 
the happiness consistant with your situation, and while the inhabitants of Amer- 
ica treat you with humanity and kindness I trust you will make a suitable return. 
It is not grateful to me to hear respectable citizens of any town being treated 
with incivility or contempt." 

1791 President Washington delivered his second annual address, in which he 
said : " The rapid subscriptions to the Bank of the United States, which com- 
pleted the sum allowed to be subscribed in a single day, is among the striking 
and pleasing evidences which present themselves, not only of confidence in the 
government, but of resource in the community. The completion of the census 
of the inhabitants will give you the pleasing assurance that the present popula- 
tion of the United States borders on four millions of persons." 

1797 Washington wrote to General Thaddeus Kosciusko, regretting the state 
of his health, and that his suffering would not permit him to visit Mount Vernon. 
In regard to that general's appeal to Congress, he said : "I am sure your claims 
upon the justice and feelings of this country will meet no delay." 



''It is a grateful fact to Americans, that under searching criticism the ability and purity of 
Washington and the nobility of his character stand unimpeached. The details of his inmost 
life and the record of his daily doings have only served as welcome shadows and light needful 
to mark him as one touched lightly with human frailties and weaknesses. It may be questioned 
whether any other figure in history, once surrounded by a heroic and poetic glow, has lost so 
small a moiety of dignity and honor." Adolphus Washington Chreelij {Massachusetts). 



158 GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

OCTOBER TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1778 The Commander-in-chief, from Fredericksburg, N. Y., wrote to Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Aaron Burr, saying, ''You carried your ideas of delicacy too far in 
proposing to drop your pay while the recovery of your health necessarily requires 
your absence from the army." 

1781 At Williamsburg, Va., the Commander-in-chief with distinguished 
courtesy entertained Lord Cornwallis at dinner. In toasting his guest he as- 
sured the defeated general that, '' England would yet have reason to be proud of 
so gallant an officer." In reply Lord Cornwallis said : " When the illustrious 
part that your Excellency has borne in this long and arduous contest becomes a 
matter of history, fame will gather your brightest laurels rather from the banks 
of the Delaware than from those of the Cheasapeake." 

1789 The President received John Hancock, Governor of Massachusetts, in 
his chambers at Boston, having most peremptorily refused to make the first visit 
of ceremony, never for a moment losing sight of the courtesy due the executive 
head of a nation from the executive head of a State. 



"General Washington's self-moderation is well known to the world already. It is a re- 
markable circumstance, which redounds to his eternal honor, that while President of the United 
States he appointed not one of his own relations to an office of trust or emolument, although 
he has several that are men of ability and well qualified to fill the most important stations in 
the Government." Isaac Weld {Ireland). 

OCTOBER TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief answered an address from the officers of Wil- 
liam and Mary College, assuring them he would remove the sick and wounded 
from the buildings as soon as possible, regretting that he had to put them to 
such unhappy use, for to him "the college was an object of veneration." 

1782 The Continental army went into its last winter quarters, at New Wind- 
sor, remaining ten months. Washington reestablished headquarters at the Has- 
brouck House, Newburg. " It is a quaint old Dutch homestead," Chastellux said, 
" the largest room in it, or parlor, having seven doors and but one window." 
This historic spot was purchased by the State of New York in 1849. A board 
of trustees has been appointed to watch over and preserve it forever, a monu- 
ment of the War of Independence. 

1789 President Washington attended the first musical festival in Boston, 
given in his honor at Bangs Chapel. He dined with Governor Hancock and other 
dignitaries, at Faneuil Hall, In replying to an address received from President 
Willard and fellows of Harvard, he said : "Your request presented by the Artist 
Edward Savage, to have him paint my portrait for the Hall of Philosophy, of 
your great university, was granted and he is now engaged in painting it." 



' Thy glory beams to eastern skies ; " Labor awhile suspends his toil, 

See ! Europe shares the sacred flame ; His debt of gratitude to pay, 

And hosts of patriot heroes rise And friendship wears a brighter smile 

To emulate thy gloi'ious name. And music breathes a sweeter lay." 

Oratorio Ode (Boston, 1789). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 159 



OCTOBER TWENTY-EIGHTH. 



1776 The Battle of Chatterton Hills, or White Plains, was fought this day. 
The opposing armies were commanded by Washington and Howe; the entire 
forces of both sides were present, though only a small number engaged in battle. 
The losses were about equal. The British were in fine condition, and General 
Howe lost an opportunity in not taking advantage of the American army, which 
was depleted by illness. 

1781 Washington wrote: "Our operations against the enemy in this state 
being concluded it becomes my duty to inform Congress of the future destination 
of the troops under my command." He sent a large detachment to reinforce 
General Greene in South Carolina, and appointed General Lincoln to command 
the troops who were to go northward. " I shall myself return to my former 
position on the North River." 

1789 The Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, accompanied by several 
visiting members of the order from France, called upon President Washington. 
At Concert Hall a brilliant ball was given in his honor, at which, he says, '• there 
was upwards of one hundred ladies." During his stay of four days the ladies of 
Boston wore broad sashes of white ribbon, upon which was embroidered " G. W." 
in golden letters, encircled with a laurel wreath. 



"To our political father the faithful page of history is panegyric, and the happiness of his 
country is the monument of his fame." _ George Richard Minot (Massachusetts). 

OCTOBER TWENTY-NINTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief wrote Governor Cooke, of Rhode Island, who 
had sent Captain Abraham Whipple to Bermuda for powder, his disappointment 
in the failure of the mission, saying, " It is not in our power to command suc- 
cess, tho' it is always our duty to deserve it." 

1781 Congress resolved, " That two stands of colors from the British army 
under the capitulation of York, be presented to his Excellency General Wash- 
ington, in the name of the United States in Congress assembled." The thanks of 
Congress were voted to Count de Rochambeau, Count de Grasse, and all the 
ofacers and soldiers of the allied army. It was also resolved that Congress 
should cause to be erected at Yorktowu a marble column adorned with emblems 
of the alliance between the United States and France. 

1792 From Philadelphia the President gave instructions to his manager in 
the event of illness among the servants, to give them careful personal watching 
as had always been his custom, saying, "My fear is, that the under-over- 
seers are so unfeeling, in short, viewing the negroes in no other light than 
as a better kind of cattle, the moment they cease to work, they cease their care 
of them." 



"All the world agree that no expedition was ever better planned or better executed. It 
has made a great addition to the military reputation you had already acquired, and heightens 
the glory that commands your rank, and this must accompany it to our latest posterity." 

Benjamin Franklin to Washington. 



160 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



OCTOBER THIRTIETH. 



1751 '^ This morning arose with agreeable assurances of a certain steady trade 
wind which after near live weeks of buffing and being tossed by a fickle merci- 
less ocean was gladdening knews." Washington's Diary. 

1775 The navy of the United Colonies was reported by the secretary of the 
Commander-in-chief to consist of the Lyncli, Captain Broughton ; the FranJcUn, 
Captain Selman ; the Lee, Captain Manly; the Warren, Captain Adams; the 
Washington, Captain Martingale ; and the Harrison, Captain Coit. 

1777 At Whitpan, Pa., a court martial, with General Sullivan as president, 
considered the conduct of General Anthony Wayne at Paoli. The charges 
against that brave officer were not proven, and he was honorably acquitted. 
Washington, with great pleasm-e, approved the findings of the court. 

1789 The President arrived at Newbury port and was received with military 
honors. He had visited the patriotic seaport town of Marblehead, where, at the 
close of the Revolution, in proportion to its inhabitants, there were more widows 
than in any other place. At Lynn he was much interested in the shoe in- 
dustry, and at Salem, where he passed the night, he attended a ball given in com- 
pliment to him. 



"Armies were led to the field with all the enterprise of a hero, and then dismissed with the 
eqiianimity of a philosopher. Power was accepted, was exei'cised, was resigned, precisely at 
the moment and in the way that duty and patriotism directed. Whatever was the difficulty, the 
trial, the temptation, the danger, there stood the soldier and the citizen eternally the same ; 
without fear and without reproach, and there was the man who was not only at all times virtu- 
ous, but at all times wise." William Smyth, LL. D. {England). 

OCTOBER THIRTY-FIRST. 

1753 Major Washington, having this day received his commission, started 
for Fort le Boeuf, the head waters of the Ohio, with official letters from Governor 
Dinwiddie to the commandant of the French forces, warning him against tres- 
passing upon the territory of his Majesty the King of Great Britain. 

1776 General Washington, in retaliation for Lord Howe's instructions for- 
bidding any citizen of Boston to leave the city under pain of military execution, 
ordered the seizure of all officials unfriendly to the American cause, in Connecti- 
cut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. 

1783 General and Mrs. Washington, and many other distinguished people, 
attended the services in Princeton College Chapel, in celebration and thanks- 
giving for the signing, at Versailles, September 3d, of the " Definitive Treaty of 
Peace" between the IJnited States and Great Britain. The official Proclamation 
of Peace was the signal for rejoicing that beggars description. 



"The defects of great natures have in them an irradiating property which fixes and fastens 
the eyes of the world upon them. George Washington by the very equability of his exalted na- 
ture is deprived of this vulgar fascination, for so I may almost call it — the fascination of con- 
trast, of the alternate glare and gloom. But every human heart is filled with deep and reveren- 
tial admiration for the man. Happy the Republic which has such a founder to commemorate. 
The destiny of that people ought indeed to be great, ought indeed to be noble and beneficent, 
of whom George Washington is even the highest type." Justin McCarthy {Ireland). 




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NOVEMBER FIRST. 

1777 General Washington inclosed to the president of Congress the letter 
of Governor Clinton, giving in detail the ravages of the troops under Vaughn 
who sailed up the Hudson on vessels commanded by Sir James Wallace. Land- 
ing at Kingston, they burned and utterly destroyed the town, the torch being 
applied by General Vaughn. 

1779 The Commander-in-chief wrote to Edmund Pendleton that the British 
had concentrated their forces at New York, called their troops from Rhode 
Island, and abandoned Stony Point. This fort had been reoccupied by the 
British since it was captured and dismantled by General Wayne in the mem- 
orable assault of July 16th. The site, which had been considered impregnable 
until taken by " Mad Anthony," continued to be a bone of contention. 

1789 President Washington, after breakfasting with Senator Tristram Dalton, 
left for Portsmouth. He was received at the State line by President Sullivan of 
New Hampshire, and many other State dignitaries. This day being Sunday, he 
attended the Episcopal Church in the morning, and in the afternoon listened to 
a sermon by the Congregational pastor, the eloquent Joseph Buckminster, D. D. 
At both services he was conducted to his pew with unusual ceremony by the 
marshal of the district and two churchwardens. 

1791 To his orphan niece Harriet, Washington wrote: "You are now to 
learn your fortune is small. Supply the want of it, then, with a well cultivated 
mind, with disposition to industry and frugality, with gentleness of manners, 
obliging temper, and such qualifications as will attract notice, and recommend 
you to a happy establishment for life." When he placed her under the care of 
his sister, he said: " Harriet has sense enough, but no disposition to industry nor 
to be careful of her clothes. Your example and admonition may with proper re- 
straints overcome it. She is young and with good advice, may yet make a fine 
woman." 



"Welcome, he comes, the hero comes, 
Sound, sound your trumpets — beat your 

drums, 
From port to port let cannon roar 
His welcome to New England's shore, 
Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, 
Welcome to New England's shore. 

11 161 



" Prepare, prepare, your songs prepare, 
Loudly, loudly send the echoing air. 
From pole to pole his praise resound, 
For virtue is with glory crowned, 
For virtue is with glory crowned, 
Virtue is with glory crowned." 

Essex Journal {November 1, 1789). 



162 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



NOVEMBER SECOND. 



1783 Washington, in his farewell to the army, written at the Berrien House 
headquarters, Rocky Hill, said : '^ To the various branches of the army, the 
General takes this last and solemn opportunity of professing his inviolable at- 
tachment and friendship. He can only again oft'er in their behalf his recom- 
mendations to their grateful country and his prayers to the God of Armies. 
May ample justice be done them here, and may the choicest of Heaven's favors, 
both here and hereafter attend those who, under the divine auspices, have secured 
innumerable blessings for others. With these wishes and this benediction, the 
Commander-in-chief is about to retire from service. The curtain of separation 
will soon be drawn, and the military scene to him will be closed forever." 

1789 At Portsmouth a barge excursion down the harbor was arranged for 
the entertainment of the President. The seamen were dressed in white, and the 
house of Captain John Blunt, at Little Harbor, was pointed out — the stanch 
old salt who was at the helm that December night in 1776 when Washington 
crossed the Delaware. The party landed at Kittery, and Washington wrote: 
"Having lines, we proceeded to the fishing banks, a little without the harbor, 
and fished for cod." He dined with President Langdon, and "in the evening 
drank tea with a large circle of ladies." 



"The comparison between what Napoleon and "Washington did living, and left dying, of 
the frnits and consequences of their deeds, would surely be a most'striking and useful moral and 
political lesson on true and false glory." Maria Edgeworth {England). 

NOVEMBER THIRD. 

1751 George Washington amved at Barbados with his brother Lawrence, 
who, now rapidly falling into consumption, was ordered to try that climate. In 
this voyage of six weeks he was an interested student of nautical matters. This 
was the only time he was out of the country, and the longest voyage he ever took. 

1788 General Washington notes : " Sat to Madam Marchioness de Brehan 
for a miniture." This gifted and eccentric woman was, with her brother Count 
de Moustier, on a visit to Mount Vernon. The miniature was engraved in France; 
prints were sent to the President. These he presented, with his autograph, to 
his special friends among the ladies. The impression he gave Mrs. Robert Morris 
has been reproduced at the Bureau of Printing and Eugra^dug. 

1789 President Washington, at Portsmouth, at the request of the citizens of 
Boston, sat to Christian Giilager for a portrait, and when completed it was dis- 
posed of by raffle, and presented to Rev. Jeremy Belknap. President Sullivan 
and the Council gave a public dinner to their illustrious guest. In responding 
to a welcome, Washington proposed "The State of New Hampshire," which 
called forth great enthusiasm. He wrote : " At half past seven I went to the 
Assembly, where there were about seventy-five well dressed and many of them 
very handsome ladies, among whom (as was also the case at Salem and Boston 
Assemblies) were a greater proportion with much blacker hair than are usually 
seen in the Southern States." 



'His religion became him. He brought it with him into office and did not lose it there." 

Jeremiah Smith, LL. D. {New Hampshire, 1800). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 163 

NOVEMBER FOURTH. 

1752 Major George Washington was initiated in the rites of masonry at 
Fredericksburg, Va., Lodge No. 4. By special favor, and in consideration of his 
character, he was accepted before arriving at man's estate. In the record of 
that lodge is found, " Received of Mr. George Washington for his entrance 
£2.3-6." On the third of March following he passed to Felloweraft, and August 
fourth to Master Mason. To the end of his eventful life he was a devoted 
Mason. 

1780 The Commander-in-chief was greatly cheered by the report of the Bat- 
tle of King's Mountain, and the routing of the gallant Colonel Ferguson and his 
regulars by the raw mountain militia of North Carolina and Virginia, led by 
Colonels Campbell, McDowell, Cleveland, Shelby, and Sevier. 

1791 The disastrous defeat of St. Clair by the Indians occurred this day, 
and was second only to the surprise and slaughter of the British under Braddock. 
Washington, when giving the general instructions, said: '^ Beware of a surprise; 
you know how the Indians fight us." Though almost frenzied at the heavy loss, 
when the first outburst of distress was over, the President said : '' General St. 
Clair shall have justice; I will hear him without prejudice; he shall have full 
justice." 



"Ere mature manhood marked his youthful "Through all his great and glorious life he 
brow, stood 

He sought our altar and made his vow ; A true, warm brother, foremost e'er in good ; 

Upon our tesselated floor he trod, And when he died, amid a nation's gloom, 

Bended his knees, and put his trust in God! His mourning brethren bore him to the tomb ! " 

Anonymous. 

NOVEMBER FIFTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief, in a general order, sternly rebuked certain 
officers and soldiers for preparing to celebrate Guy Fawkes' Day bj^ burning 
the Pope in effigy. He referred to the Canadian Catholics, saying, '^ At such a 
juncture and in such circumstances, to be insulting their religion is so monstrous 
as not to be suffered or excused; indeed, instead of offering the most remote 
insult it IS our duty to address public thanks to these, our brethren, as to them 
we are so much indebted for every late happy success over the common enemy 
in Canada." 

1781 General Washington reached the residence of his brother-in-law, 
Colonel Bassett, at Eltham, thirty miles from Yorktown, to which place his aide, 
Major John Parke Custis, Mrs. Washington's son and only surviving child, had been 
removed when attacked with camp fever at Yorktown. He aiTived a few min- 
utes before his death, and remained with his wife and Mrs. Custis several days, 
with loving care superintending the funeral arrangements and sustaining the 
prostrated wife and mother. He adopted the two younger of Major Custis's four 
children — Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. These 
children became the pleasure and comfort of his advancing years. 



"Whilst he lived we seemed to stand on loftier ground, for breathing the same air, inhabit- 
ing the same country, enjoying the same constitution and laws as the sublime and magnanimous 
Washington. He was invested with a glory that shed a lustre on all around him." 

John Carroll, Bishop of Maryland. 



164 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

NOVEMBER SIXTH. 

1775 The Command er-iu-cliief expressed his deep sympathy for the suffer- 
ings of the enterprising and courageous citizens of Falmouth, and regretted that 
it was entirely out of his power to relieve them. This town — now Portland, 
Maine — was given only two hours by the captain of a British vessel in which to 
remove its women and children before commencing a destructive bombardment. 
Notwithstanding the devastation, the enemy did not effect a landing. 

1776 ^' It is with the utmost astonishment and abhorrence that the General 
is informed that some base and cowardly wretches last night set fire to the Court- 
house, and other buildings, which the enemy had left; the army may rely on it, 
that they shall be brought to justice and meet with the punishment they deserve." 
Orderh/ Book ( White Plains). 

1789 President Washington left Portsmouth on the fourth, passing through 
Exeter and several small towns, and reached Haverhill, where he remained 
overnight. Of Exeter he wrote: "A jealousy subsists between this town and 
Portsmouth, which, had I known in time, would have made it necessary to 
have accepted an invitation to a public dinner." At Andover he said: ^'Met 
with much attention from Mr. Phillips, President of the Massachusetts Senate, 
who accompanied us through Bellariki, where I dined, and viewed the spot on 
which the first blood was spilt in the dispute with G. B. on the 19th of April, 
1775." 



"Brilliant beyond all other names that blaze in the splendor of those days of trial and 
triumph shines the name of George Washington." Frances A. Johnston {Neic York). 

NOVEMBER SEVENTH. 

1775 Acting upon the findings of the court, presented by the Commander- 
in-chief, Congress resolved " that Dr. Benjamin Church be closely confined in 
some secret gaol in the Colony of Connecticut, without use of pen, ink, or paper, 
and that no person be allowed to converse with him except in the presence and 
hearing of a magistrate of the town, or sheriff of the county where he shall be 
confined, and in the English language, until further ordered by this or a future 
Congress." 

1777 " Since the General left Germantown, in the middle of September last, 
he has been without his baggage, and on that account is unable to receive com- 
pany in the manner he could wish. He nevertheless desires the Generals, Field 
Officers and Brigade Major of the day, to dine with him in future at three o'clock 
in the afternoon." Orderh/ Book {White MarsJi). 

1784 Washington wrote Jacob Read : " My tour to the westward was less 
extensive than I intended. The Indians from accounts were in too dissatisfied 
a mood for me to expose myseK to their insults, as I had no object in contempla- 
tion which would warrant any risk. To see the condition of my lands, which 
were nearest and settled, and to dispose of those which were more remote and 
unsettled was all I had in view." 



" A civil war is better than assassination or massacre; it has a system of discipline, it has 
laws, diities, and virtues ; but it must end in military despotism. The example of Washington 
is solitary." Sir James Mackintosh (Scotland). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 165 

NOVEMBER EIGHTH. 

1757 Colonel Washington, attended by Dr. Craik, arrived at Alexandria, 
and wrote a short note requesting a visit from Rev. Charles Greene. He left 
the frontier by the order of his physician, and it was more than four months 
before he was able to resume his command. It was feared that, like his brother 
Lawrence, he had contracted serious pulmonary trouble. 

1775 In a postscript to Joseph Reed, Washington amusingly says : ''A blun- 
dering Lieutenant of the blundering Captain Coit, who had blundered upon two 
vessels from Nova Scotia, just came in with the account of it, and before I could 
rescue my letter without knowing what he did, picked up a candle and sprinkled 
it with grease." 

1789 " It being contrary to law, and disagreeable to the people of this State 
[Connecticut] to travel on the Sabbath day — and my horses, after passing 
through such intolerable roads, wanting rest, I stayed at Perkins' tavern (which, 
by the bye, is not a good one) all day — and a meeting house being within a few 
rods of the door, I attended morning and evening service, and heard very lame 
discourses from a Mr. Pond." Washington's Diary. 



" I never knew so constant an attendant on church as Washington. His behavior in the 
house of God was ever so reverential that it produced the happiest effect upon my congregation 
and greatly assisted me in my pulpit labors. No company ever kept him from the church." 

Rev. Lee Massey ( Virginia). 

NOVEMBER NINTH. 

1777 General Stirling sent Washington this paragraph from Conway's letter to 
Gates: '' Heaven has determined to save your country, or a weak general and bad 
councillors would have ruined it." He had received the same extract from the 
president of Congress, and inclosed both, without comment, to the author. 

1783 At Rocky Hill, Washington gave this order to Captain Bazaleel Howe: 
"You will take charge of the Waggons which contain my baggage, and with the 
escort proceed with them to Virginia, and deliver the baggage at my house ten 
miles below Alexandria. As you know they contain all my papers, which are of 
immense value to me, I am sure it is unnecessary to request your particular 
attention to them." 

1789 The President wrote from Hartford to the father of Polly and Patsy 
Taft, Uxbridge, Mass., where he had remained overnight: ''I send to each a 
piece of chintz, and to Patsy, who waited on us more than PoUy did, who bears 
the name of Mrs. Washington, I send five guineas, being much pleased with 
their modest and innocent looks. That I may be sure the chintz and money 
have got safe to hand, let Patsy, who I dare say is equal to it, write me a line 
informing me thereof, directed to the President of the United States at New 
York." 



"Novalis said that character is the completely developed will. I have always been im- 
pressed when contemplating the life of Washington, with the fact, that he is an eminent ex- 
ample of character-building. He shows in his life an almost perfect balance of self-control and 
effective action upon the outer world. Self-control is often strengthened at the expense of out- 
ward efficiency. Ready action upon the outward world often conflicts with self-control. In 
Washington's character we find this fully developed will, which has attained this perfect balance 
of inward control and outward efficiency." William Torrey Harris {Connecticut). 



166 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

NOVEMBER TENTH. 

1775 " The General thanks Col. Thompson of Virginia and the other gallant 
officers and soldiers for their alacrity yesterday in pushing thi-'o the water, to 
get to the Enemy on Letchraore's Point. He is informed there were some who 
discovered a backwardness in crossing the causeway — these will be marked if 
they can be discovered." Orderly Book ( Cambridge). 

1782 General Washington attended at West Point the funeral of Ensign 
Trant, a brave young Irish gentleman who at the age of eighteen left his coun- 
try and espoused the cause of America. In two years' service he received the 
approval of the Commander-in-chief. He was buried in the garrison, and every 
mark of respect shown his memory. 

1798 Lieutenant-General Washington arrived in Philadelphia to confer in re- 
gard to the organization of the " Provisional Army." He was met at the Schuylkill 
by the Secretary of War, Major-General Hamilton, and an escort of city troops. 
When he reached the parade-ground he descended from his coach and reviewed 
" The MacPherson Blues." His approach was the signal for joyous demonstrations 
from citizens and a parade of veterans and militia. 



" The degrees of rank are frequently transferred from civil life into the departments of the 
army. The true criterion to judge by, when past services do not enter into competition, is to 
consider vfhether the candidate for office has a just pretension to the character of gentleman, a 
proper sense ©f honor and some reputation to lose." Washington to Governor Patrick Henry. 



NOVEMBER ELEVENTH. 

1775 General Washington sent to the president of Congress the act passed 
by the Council and House of Representatives of the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay. It was the first law passed by a colony providing for the fitting out of 
vessels of marque and reprisal, and for establishing a court in which to try and 
condemn the captured vessels of the enemy. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief visited the Highland forts in boats. The 
chief object was to see the progress of the work at Fort Montgomery and other 
points. He was accompanied by his staff — Governor Clinton and Generals 
Heath, Mifflin, Stirling, and James Clinton. General Heath said: "They went as 
far up the river as Constitution Island which is opposite West Point, the latter 
of which, was not then taken possession of; but the glance of the eye at it with- 
out going on shore evinced that this post was not to be neglected. There was a 
small work and block house on Constitution Island. Fort Montgomery was in 
inconsiderable forwardness." 

1789 " Set out about sunrise, and took the upper road to Milford, it being 
shorter than the lower one through West Haven. Breakfasted at the former. 
Baited at Fairfield; and dined and lodged at a Maj. Marvins 9 miles further, 
which is not a good house; though the people of it were disposed to do all they 
could to accommodate me." Washington's Journal. 



" Washington kept his eye fixed upon the Hudson, and especially upon West Point as the 
key to the North and the gateway to the South." Erastus Brooks (New York). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 167 

NOVEMBER TWELFTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief ordered General Sullivan " to delay no time in 
the seizure of every ofl&cer of Government in Portsmouth, who had given pregnant 
proofs of their unfriendliness to the cause we are engaged in." Washington at 
Cambridge, perplexed by the delay in furnishing uniforms for the troops, ap- 
pealed to the colonels to give this important matter their personal attention. 
These uniforms, if it be lawful to call them uniforms, were rough, " colored 
brown by domestic industry," and home-made. 

1781 General Washington visited his mother, and in the evening escorted 
her to a ball given by the citizens of Fredericksburg, to the French and Ameri- 
can officers. The following day he reached Mount Vernon, it being thirty-three 
days since he stopped at his home on his way to lay siege to " the posts of York 
and Gloucester." 

1799 To the assembly committee Washington replied : " Mrs. Washington 
and myself have been honored with your polite invitation to the Assemblies in 
Alexandria this winter; and thank you for this mark of your attention. — But 
alas ! our dancing days are no more. We wish, however, all those who relish so 
agreeable and innocent an amusement, all the pleasure the same may afford 
them." 



' ' Washington never violated a single trust. He more than answered the public expectation 
in every one of his numerous appointments. In every one he acquired fresh laurels, and in- 
creased the general admiration." Oliver Everett {Massachusetts, 1800). 

NOVEMBER THIRTEENTH. 

1782 General Washington sent to Captain Charles Asgill, the "Act of Con- 
gress" setting him at liberty, and said : " Supposing you would wish to go into 
New York as soon as possible, I enclose a passport for that purpose." This 
officer, selected as a hostage, in retaliation for the murder of Captain Joshua 
Huddy, was under sentence of death. Congress pardoned him upon the solicita- 
tion of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count de Vergennes. 

1789 Returning from his Eastern tour, the President reached New York on 
Friday, in time to be present at Mrs. Washington's weekly reception. He had 
been absent a month. When nearing home (at New Haven) he notes in his journal : 
"I met Mr. Gerry in the New York stage, who gave me the first certain account 
of the health of Mrs. Washington." 

1798 Washington gives an amusing account of a call at his lodgings in 
Philadelphia from Dr. Blackwell and Dr. Logan. The latter, he had reason to 
conclude, espoused the cause of France. "I asked Dr. Blackwell to be seated, 
the other took a seat at the same time. I addressed all my conversation to Dr. 
Blackwell, the other all his to me, to which I only gave negative or affirmative 
answers as laconically as I could, excepting asking how Mrs. Logan did." 



"In his policy abroad Washington was impartial — firm and vigilant, mild and pacific, but he 
could be war-like. His policy at home, his intercourse with his cabinet and other coordinate 
branches of Government was frank — open and ingenuous." Charles W. Hanson {Maryland). 



168 GEOKGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

NOVEMBER FOURTEENTH. 

1777 In a letter to John Parke Custis, Washington said : '' It is mueli to 
be wished that a remedy could be applied to the depreciation of our currency. 
I know of no person better qualified to do this than Colonel Mason, and shall be 
very happy to hear that he has taken it in hand. Long have I been persuaded 
of the indispensable necessity of a tax for the purpose of sinking the paper 
money, and why it has been delayed, better politicians than I must account for." 

1781 From Mount Vernon, Washington wrote Lafayette: ''Not till the 5th 
instant was I able to leave York. Engaged in providing for the detachment 
that was to go southerly, embarking the troops that were to go northerly, mak- 
ing a disposition of the Ordnance and stores, and disposing of the officers, and 
other prisoners to their respective places of destination." 

1796 President Washington expressed regret to Attorney-General Lee for 
his continued absence from the seat of government, saying, " Rely upon it, it 
is productive of unpleasant remarks, in which I must be involved. It will, indeed 
is, considered as making a sinecure of the office. To suppose there is no par- 
ticular occasion for Law officer of the Government at the seat of it, during the 
recess of Congress, is incorrect." 



" Providence left Mm childless that the nation might call him fathei'." 

Medal, U. S. Mint. 

NOVEMBER FIFTEENTH. 

1751 George Washington notes the following incidents at Barbados : " Dined 
with Major Clark, at a club entitled the 'Beef Steak and Tripe' — Was treated 
with a ticket to see the play of ' George Barnwell ' acted. The character of 
Barnwell and several said to be well performed. There was music adapted and 
regularly performed." Referring to an invitation to dinner from Major Clark, 
he wrote : " We went, myself with some reluctance, as smallpox was in the 
family." He contracted the disease, and was confined to his room three weeks, 
but escaped disfigurement. 

1783 General Washington received at West Point from the officers on the 
Hudson an answer to his farewell address. It was announced that officers and 
men wishing to take leave of their General would be received " in the little back 
room where he wrote his orders." Here they came — brave men not ashamed to 
weep, old men not ashamed to become boys. 

1789 " Received an invitation to attend the funeral of Mrs. Roosevelt, (the 
wife of a senator of this state) but declined complying with it — first, because 
the propriety of accepting any invitation of this sort appeared very question- 
able — and secondly, (though to do it in this instance might not be improper), 
because it might be difficult to discriminate in cases which might thereafter 
happen." Washington's Diary. 



"I witnessed the public conduct and private virtues of Washington, and I saw and partici- 
pated in the confidence which he inspired, when probably the stability of our institutions de- 
pended upon his personal influence. Many years have passed over me since, but they have 
increased instead of diminishing my reverence for his character, and my confidence in his 
principles." ' Jndi'ew Jackson, President of the United States. 




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GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 169 

NOVEMBER SIXTEENTH. 

1758 Colonel "Washington wrote to Greneral Forbes, who was ill in Phila- 
delphia: ''The keeping Fort Duquesne (if we should be fortunate enough to 
take it) in its present situation, will be attended with great advantages to the 
middle colonies ; and I do not know so effectual a way of doing it as by the com- 
munication of Fort Cumberland and General Braddock's road." 

1776 From the Roger Morris house the General watched the end of the fight 
at Fort Washington; saw the flag cut down, and his brave soldiers marched out 
prisoners. "Fifteen minutes later the British Troops took possession of the 
very spot on which the Commander-in-chief with the ofQcers, had been standing." 

1784 General Washington arrived at Richmond the previous evening to 
meet Lafayette. The Virginia Legislatm'e being in session, a committee of five 
members was appointed " to express to him the satisfaction they feel in the op- 
portunity afforded by his presence of offering this tribute to his merits." 

1794 This day President Washington wrote his old friend, Dr. Craik: "I 
have nominated your son-in-law (and I congratulate you upon that), Richard 
Harrison, Auditor for the United States." 



"As a warrior and a statesman, Washington was righteous in all he did; — unlike all who 
lived before or since ; he never used his power but for the benefit of his fellow-creatures. He 

" For truth and wisdom, foremost of the brave ; 

Him glory's idle glances dazzled not ; 
'T was his ambition generous and great 
A life to life's great end to consecrate." 

Percy Bysshe Shelley {England). 



*o^ 



NOVEMBER SEVENTEENTH. 

1775 Henry Knox, of Connecticut, who was this day made by Congress 
colonel of artillery, the first officer of that service, received instructions from the 
Commander-in-chief, and set out for New York, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point, 
to procure cannon, mortars, shells, lead, and powder. He retnrned in January 
with a fine supply of ammunition. The success of Colonel Knox in this impor- 
tant mission secured for him the warm approval of Washington, as it made 
possible the attack upon Boston. 

1777 Washington informed Congress of the evacuation of Fort Mifflin on 
the Delaware, " after a defence that does credit to American Arms." The critical 
condition of the Continental army at that time was fully understood by him; 
for in 1787 he notes in his diary (August 19th, Sunday) : '' In company with 
Mr. Powell, rode up to White Marsh, traversed my old incampment and con- 
templated the dangers that threatened the American Army at that place." 

1792 The President said to the commissioners of the Federal Territory : '' I 
agi'ee with you in opinion that ground in such eligible places as about the Capi- 
tol and the President's house, should not be sold in squares, unless there are 
some great and apparent advantages to be derived from specified buildings, 
which will have a tendency to promote the advancement of the city." 



" The national life itself throbs through Washington's transmitted life, and the aroma of 
his grace is as conscientiously breathed by statesmen and citizens to-day, as invisible atmos- 
phere which secures physical vitality and force." Henry B. Carrington, LL. D. {Connecticut). 



170 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

NOVEMBER EIGHTEENTH. 

1775 The Commander-in-eliief and his general officers spent the day at Gen- 
eral Artemus Ward's headquarters, Roxbury. This conference was held for the 
purpose of locating batteries for the security of their camps, as the bay would soon 
be frozen, in which condition the Continentals would be more exposed. Lord 
Howe was expecting reinforcements, and an attack was anticipated. Washing- 
ton said : " I have long had it upon my mind that a successful attempt might be 
made by way of a surprise upon Castle WiUiam. From every account there are 
not more than three hundred men in the place." 

1783 From West Point, General Washington wrote to Elias Boudinot, presi- 
dent of Congress : " I have at length the pleasure to inform your Excellency, and 
Congress, that Sir Guy Carleton has fixed upon the time at which he proposes to 
evacuate the city of New York. The particulars are more fullv explained in his 
letter." 

1789 "■ Took a walk in the forenoon, and called upon Mr. Jay on business, 
but he was not within. On my return, paid Mr. Vaughn, senior, a visit, informal. 
Sent a Commission as District Judge of South Carolina to the Hon'ble William 
Drayton, of that state." Washington's Diary. 



"Before the splendors of thy high renown, "While borne to distant lands thy deeds sub- 

How fade the glow-worm lusters of a crown ! lime 

How sink, diminished, in that radiance lost. Shall brighten as they mark the page of time, 
The glare of conquest and of power the And ages yet unborn with glad acclaim, 

boast. Pronounce a Washington's illustrious 

name." Richard Alsop (Connecticut). 

NOVEMBER NINETEENTH. 

1776 With a heavy heart the Commander-in-chief wrote to his brother John 
Augustine: "This [the surrender of Fort Washington] is a most unfortunate 
affair, and has given me great mortification; as we have lost not only two thou- 
sand men that were there, but a great deal of artillery, and some of the best 
arms we had, and what adds to my mortification is, after the last ships went 
past, it was held contrary to my wishes and opinion, as I conceived it to be a 
hazardous one ; but it was determined on by a full council of general officers 
and a resolution of Congress." 

1794 The President, in his speech to Congress, urged "the devising and es- 
tablishing of a well regulated militia would be a genuine source of legislative 
honor, and a perfect title to public gratitude. There is a pleasing prospect that 
the Mint of the United States will, at no remote day, realize the expectation that 
was originally formed of its utility." John Jay closed his English mission by 
signing this day a treaty with Great Britain which, while it was intended to secure 
our possession of the western posts, proved a fire-brand thrown into American 
politics. 



"Though friends, followers and countrymen should betray or abandon me, I will return to 
my own Virginia, plant the standard of liberty on my native moimtains, and calling around me 
the friends of Freedom, we will fight for our country and our homes, in the enjoyment of our in- 
dependence, and beyond the reach of a tyrant." Washington. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 171 

NOVEMBER TWENTIETH. 

1781 The Commauder-in-chief left Mount Vernon, and stopping in Alexan- 
dria, personally thanked the citizens for rejoicing with him in the fall of York- 
town, and for their expressions of sympathy in his great family affliction, — the 
death of Major Custis, — saying, '^ Your condolence for the loss of that amiable 
youth, Mr. Custis, affects me most tenderly." 

1790 President Washington reminded his manager at Mount Vernon that on 
Monday the annual church subscriptions were due, mentioning among other 
items, ten pounds to the Rev. Thomas Davis, rector of Christ Church, Alexan- 
dria. This divine assisted at Washington's funeral. 

1791 President Washington wrote to Lafayette that Mr. John Trumbull had 
ordered a subscription to be opened in Paris for engravings of his series of pic- 
tures of the most important events of the Revolution. " His pieces, as far as 
they are executed, meet the warm applause of all who have seen them. The 
greatness of the design, and the masterly execution of the work, equally interest 
the man of a capacious mind, and the approving eye of the connoisseur." 



" But beyond all his great deeds which can be recorded or appraised, we owe him our grati- 
tude iu still higher measure for the example of character which he set before the young Repub- 
lic in the dawn of its days. Even in a greater degree than for what he did, the nation is his 
debtor for what he was. ... No father, in his most ardent prayers for his children, could wish 
them a better fate than to possess such a heart, such a mind, such a temper as made of George 
Washington as nearly a perfect man as humanity can furnish." John Hay (Illinois). 

NOVEMBEE TWENTY-FIRST. 

1776 General Washington took his troops over the Passaic River, crossing 
on Aquackenonk Bridge. Port Lee, when evacuated by the Continentals, was 
taken possession of by the British. This memorable marching and counter- 
marching — " the retreat through the Jerseys " — attracted the admiration of Euro- 
pean officers. The armies were often so near that the airs played by their re- 
spective bands could be readily distinguished. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief arrived in Annapolis, where all business was 
suspended, and he was greeted with the wildest demonstrations. A chronicler 
of the day facetiously says : ''A few Tories, to expiate their crimes, and shuffle 
off this opprobrium of their characters, feebly joined in applauding the man, 
whose late successes had annihilated their hopes, and whose conduct was a satire 
on their principles." 

1782 Washington wrote Count de Vergenues, at the court of Versailles : 
" Captain Asgill has been released and is at perfect liberty to return to the arms 
of an affectionate parent, whose pathetic address to your Excellency could not 
fail of interesting every feeling heart iu her behalf." 

1789 North Carolina ratified the Federal Constitution. 



•You would have thought the very windows "Upon his visage ; and that all the walls, 
spoke, With painted imagery, had said at once : 

So many greedy looks, from young and old, 'God save thee, Washington !' " 
Through casements darted their desiring eyes Annapolis, November 21, 1781. 



172 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SECOND. 

1777 " The Commander-in-chief offers a reward of ten dollars to anjr person, 
who shall by nine o'clock on Monday morning produce the best substitute for 
shoes made of raw hides. The Commissary of hides is to furnish the hides, and 
the Major General of the day is to judge of the essays and assign the reward to 
the best artist." Orderly Booh ( White Marsh). 

1781 General Washington was entertained at dinner by the city of Annapo- 
lis. In the evening, 'Ho gratify the wishes of the Fair," he appeared at the As- 
sembly. " When he retired, with one united voice all present exclaimed : 

" ' Unrivalled and unmatched shall be his fame, 
And his own laurels shade his name.'" 

He left the following morning for Baltimore, where he was met by his bereaved 
wife, and two days later they began their journey to Philadelphia, where Con- 
gress was in session. 

1784 The masons of Alexandria, in their application for a charter for their 
lodge, wrote : '' It is the earnest desire of the members of this lodge that our 
brother George Washington, Esq., be named in the charter as ' Master.' " 



" With fervent zeal for your happiness, we pray that a life so dear to the bosom of this so- 
ciety, and to society in general, may be long, very long preserved ; and when you leave the 
temporal, symbolic lodges of this world, may you be received into the celestial lodge of light 
and perfection, where the Grand Master Architect of the Universe presides." 

Mordecai Gist (South Carolina). 

NOVEMBER TWENTY-THIRD. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief wrote John Hancock, president of Congress : 
" The situation of our affairs is truly critical, and such as requires uncommon 
exertions on our part." He also sent General Mifflin to present to Congress the 
urgent necessity of immediate succor. Washington reached Newark and re- 
mained five days, the advance-guard of the enemy entering the town as the last 
company of Continentals left. 

1777 Washington announced the surrender of Fort Mercer, saying, ''I am 
sorry to inform Congress that the enemy are now in possession of all the water 
defences on the Delaware. After the loss of Fort Mifflin, it was found Red Bank 
could derive no advantage from the galleys and armed vessels. Under these 
circumstances, the garrison was obliged to evacuate it on the night of the 20th, 
on the approach of Lord Cornwallis." 

1780 At Preakness, Washington received that brilliant officer, ready writer, 
and gay bachelor. Marquis de Chastellux. The meeting was mutually pleasant, 
and the Commander-in-chief invited the French officer to visit on the following 
day the army at different camps. 



" Indeed, it is the manhood pure and simple of George Washington that appeals to the far- 
spreading, republican sjrmpathy and connects the man with every fiber of our republican civili- 
zation. That he was not in any sense a demi-god, nor in any degree a typical hero adds 
enormous weight to his character in the reckoning of patriotism; it makes him normal, sound, 
human, and yet superbly developed and majestically poised, a chieftain physically, in mental 
and moral temperament, a patriot pure and true, a man of the common race but cast in an un- 
common mold and of selectest material. To such a man it is easy for the lovers of old-fashioned 
patriotism to turn with flawless reverence." Alaurice TJionipson {Indiana). 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 173 

NOVEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH. 

1753 Major Washington arrived at " Loggs Town," chief village of the Del- 
awares, where he remained six days, endeavoring to persuade Shingiss, their 
Half -King, to furnish him with young men guides to Fort le Bceuf. This 
brave was a Delaware chief who at first favored the English, but afterward 
joined the French and became the terror of the back settlements. In 1756 Penn- 
sylvania offered a reward of $350 for his head. 

1777 As Cornwallis was m Jersey with his troops, it was considered a fit op- 
portunity for attacking Philadelphia. Washington reconnoitered the enemy's 
lines and found them more strongly intrenched than he anticipated. Eleven offi- 
cers out of fifteen opposed the attack. General Duportail declared ''that in 
such works with five thousand men he would bid defiance to any force that 
should be brought against him." 

1789 President Washington went to the John Street Theater, New York, 
and '' The President's March " was played as he entered. For this German air, 
Francis Hopkinson later wrote those inspiring words — 

"Hail Columbia, Happy Land, 
Hail ye heaven born band." 



" lo, bench^ nato non libero, avendo pure 
abbandonato in tempo i miei Lari ; 
e non per altra cagione, ehe per potere 
altamente serivere de Liberia." 

Alfieri, Dedication to Washington of '^Brutus the Just." 

NOVEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1758 Colonel Washington, in command of the Forbes expedition, raised the 
British flag on the ruins of Fort Duquesne, and changed the name to Fort Pitt 
in honor of that great statesman and friend of liberty, William Pitt, first Earl 
of Chatham. 

1783 General Washington took possession of the city of New York, in com- 
memoration of which event his equestrian statue now stands in Union Square. 
The army entered first. The Commander-in-chief and the Governor of the State 
and their suites were escorted by the West Chester Light Horse ; General Knox 
and officers of the army eight abreast ; mounted citizens eight abreast ; and the 
speaker of the Assembly and citizens on foot eight abreast. The line of march 
extended from Harlem to the Bowery. 

1784 General Washington gave Lafayette, then his guest at Mount Vernon, 
a letter to Dr. Mesmer of Paris, thanking him for the communication in which 
that scientist had taken some pains to explain "the power and principles of 
magnetism." 



' ' We give thanks and praise for him whom in Thy providence Thou didst set forth to be the 
leader of our leaders in council and in arms and the example of all who follow in his high office. 
We bless Thee that through the gifts and grace with which Thou didst endow him, his name re- 
mains for us, as for our fathers, a banner of light, to the lustre of which the nations turn." 

Richard S. Starrs, D. D. (New York). 



174 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1775 General Washington from Cambridge wrote Lund Washington at 
Mount Vernon: " Let the hospitality with respect to the poor be kept up. Let no 
one go hungry away. If any of this kind of people should be in want of corn, 
supply their necessities, provided it does not encourage them in idleness ; and I 
have no objection to your giving my money in charity to the amount of forty or 
fifty pounds a year, when you think it well bestowed." Lund Washington was 
a distant relative and the trusted friend who superintended his estate through 
the entire struggle for independence, and his frequent letters to him are exceed- 
ingly interesting. 

1781 General and Mrs. Washington arrived at Philadelphia, and found the 
city prepared to give them a magnificent reception. Charles Willson Peale ex- 
hibited transparencies illustrative of the glorious victory of Washington and Ro- 
chambeau over Cornwallis: which were the Ville de Paris under sail, busts of 
Washington and Rochambeau encircled with stars and fleur-de-lis, with the le- 
gend, " Live, Valiant Chiefs ! " Great crowds were attracted by this display, and 
the excited citizens remained on the street a larger part of the night. 



"All panegyriek is vain and language too feeble to express our ideas of his greatness. May 
tbe crown of glory he has placed on the brow of the genius of America, shine with untarnished 
radiance and lustre, and in the brightness of its rays be distinctly seen — Washington the Sa- 
viour of his Country." ^Pennsylvania Journal (1781). 



NOVEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1753 Major Washington's journal has this quaint picture : " Runners were 
despatched very earty for the Shannoah chiefs. The Half-King set out himself 
to fetch the French Speech-belt from his hunting-cabbin." This '^ Speech-belt " 
was a contract with the French for these tribes to take up the hatchet against the 
English, which the Indians determined now to violate, having grown suspicious 
of their allies. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief wrote to Richard Henry Lee in Virginia: 
" For God's sake hurry the signers of money, that our wants may be supplied. 
It is a very singular case, that their signing cannot keep pace with our demands." 
Three hundred of the poor whom Howe had driven out of Boston were received 
and provided with food by Washington. 

1784 Washington, in his letter from Mount Vernon to Governor Clinton, 
said : " I am sorry we have been disappointed in our expectation in the Mineral 
Springs at Saratoga ; and of the purchase of that part of the Oriskany tract, on 
which Fort Schuyler stands." 



"History has not dared to paint him. Delighting to trace the features of her subjects, too 
often overlooking the minor lineaments, and shrouding her heroes in a blaze of splendor lest we 
should observe too closely, when she gazed on Washington, dropt her pencil. Of the few who 
have arisen from among the people to control important popular revolutions, Washington alone 
has the power of having established free principles and of having perpetuated his work." 

George Washington Bethune {New York). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



175 



NOVEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1781 The Commander-in-chief appeared before Congress, escorted by two 
members. He was addressed by the president, John Hanson, who, after congrat- 
ulating him over the glorious success in Virginia, said : " It is the expectation of 
Congress that your Excellency would remain some time in Philadelphia, that 
they may avail themselves of your aid, and that you may enjoy a respite from 
the fatigues of war." 

1783 ''At Cape's Tavern the citizens, who have lately returned from exile, 
gave an elegant entertainment to his Excellency the Governor, the Council ; his 
Excellency General Washington, and the officers of the army ; about three hun- 
dred gentlemen graced the feast." The Bememhrancer {New York). 

1796 From Philadelphia the President wrote to his adopted sou, George 
Washington Parke Custis,.the famous "Paternal letter," which has happUy 
been called " Washington's legacy to the boys of America " : " 'T is well to be on 
good terms with all your fellow students — and I am pleased to hear you are so, 
but while a courteous behavior is due to all, select the most deserving only for 
your friendships. True friendship is a plant of slow growth ; to be sincere, there 
must be a congeniality of temper and pursuits." 



" May the name of "Washington continued steeled, as it ever has been, to the dark, slander- 
ous arrow that flieth in secret ; for none have offered to eclipse his glory but have afterwards 
sunk away diminished, and shorn of their beams." Thomas Dawes {Massachusetts, 1781). 

NOVEMBER TWENTY-NINTH. 

1776 The Commander-in-chief reached New Brunswick with 3,000 men ; two 
brigades left by expiration of time, when the enemy was only two hours in the 
rear. A retreat was imperative, as an engagement with the greatly superior force 
of the enemy was too hazardous. He entreated the Governor of the State, " With- 
out loss of time, to give orders to the officers of militia on the roads and ferries 
over the Delaware to take up and secure every soldier that has not a regular dis- 
charge or pass." 

1784 General Washington visited with Lafaj^ette the city of Annapolis; 
and in the evening they attended the assembly ball given in their honor. The 
next morning Lafayette accompanied his beloved General beyond the city limits, 
and when they parted, Washington was impressed with a premonition that it was 
the last time he would see him. He wrote him : "I often asked myself as our 
carriages separated, whether that was the last sight I ever should have of you ? 
And though I wished to say ' No,' my fears answered ' yes.' " 



"Unshaken 'mid the storm, 
Behold that noble form, — 

That peerless one. 
With his protecting hand, 
Like Freedom's angel stand 

The guardian of our land, — 



" Traced there in lines of light, 
Where aU pure rays unite. 

Obscured by none. 
Brightest on history's page, 
As chieftain, man and sage, 
Stands Washington ! " 
George Rowland {Massachusetts). 



176 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



NOVEMBER THIRTIETH. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief congratulated Congress that on the 28th Cap- 
tain Manly, in command of the schooner Lee, had captured the British brigantine 
Nancy, bound for Boston loaded with army supplies — 2,000 muskets, 100,000 flints, 
and a brass mortar weighing nearly 3,000 pounds, to which Putnam gave the 
name of " Congress." This was the most important piece used in the siege of 
Boston. Washington instructed Aaron Willard, and his assistant Moses Child, in 
regard to the Nova Scotia mission, " to report the disposition of the inhabitants 
towards the American cause, the condition of the fortifications and the quantity 
of Artillery." The inventor of the popular Willard clock was a keen observer, 
and made many excursions through the colonies with his clock-wagon, though 
this mission proved unsatisfactory. 

1781 General Washington, at his headquarters, the Chew House, Third Street, 
Philadelphia, received General Frederick Muhlenberg, speaker of the House of 
Representatives, and members, and listened to and answered their addresses. This 
handsome mansion had been occupied by several notables, among them the re- 
gretted Don Juan Murilles. 

1785 From Mount Vernon, Washington thanked Samuel Vaughn for a pun- 
cheon of Jamaica rum, and added : '' Hearing of the distress in the West Indies, 
in consequence of the Hurricane, I have taken the liberty of asking you to accept 
a few barrels of superfine flour of my own manufactory." 

1794 "President Washington, at the solicitation of Mr. Collins 

contributed fifty dollars towards the building of the new Catholic Church at 
Philadelphia." 



" Washington, more than any other man in history, stands as a model for imitation by his 
countrymen as a citizen, soldier and statesman. In these human relationships no creation of 
the idealist presents a character more nearly faultless than that which rises before the young 
student as he closes the records which in less than one hundred years of his death, are accepted 
as correctly describing his personality and his achievements. Imperfections such as belong to 
all men must have been fewer and less radical than we ordinarily find them when the transition 
from the actual to the ideal world is so easily made." 

George Williamson Smith, D.D., President of Trinity College, 




PANELS or MANTEL AT MOUNT VERNON. 




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STATE HOUSE AND TREASURY, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, 1783. 

After an old print. 




DECEMBER FIRST. 

1768 In Washington's diary is found : " Went to the Election of Burgesses 
for this county [Alexandria; Fairfax]; was there, with Colonel West chosen. 
Staid all night to a Ball which I had given." Washington received 185 votes, 
Colonel West 142, Captain Posey 87. 

1782 General Washington at Newburg gave a bond to Governor Clinton of 
New York. This document has been recently bought for its autograph ; at the 
same time the MS. of '' The Daily Sacrifice" was sold — an arrangement of prayers 
prepared and used by Washington. In spite of this and other evidences of faith, 
discussions continue as to whether Washington was a Christian. 

1783 General Washington was a guest at the dinner, of more than a hun- 
dred covers, given at Cape's Tavern to Luzerne, the Ambassador of France, by 
his Excellency the Governor of New York. The pleasure of the occasion was en- 
hanced by the fact that the Commander-in-chief received a letter from Sir Guy 
Carleton, written aboard the Ceres off Staten Island, announcing that the frigate 
Asted had arrived with twenty transports, and he hoped to embark his army on 
the fourth and take final leave of the country. 

1799 Colonel and Mrs. Edward Carrington, of Virginia, spent two weeks at 
Mount Vernon, and were the last visitors whom Washington, for any length of 
time, entertained at his hospitable home. The General was in splendid health 
and spirits, and had much to interest him in considering the organization of the 
Provisional army, as' he had chosen this efiicient officer to be quartermaster- 
general. Mrs. Carrington, writing of this visit, said they seldom retired before 
midnight: the General had so much of anecdote to recall, and so many inquiries 
about old friends. The family was happy over a recent event — lovely Mrs. 
Lawrence Lewis, nee Nellie Custis, had become a mother. 



"Oh, my country, art thou paling — losing all thy young days' glow? 
Can'st thou lose thy first love's glory, and thy hero's worth still know ? 
Patriot hearts, do doubts still haunt you, threatening thoughts come crowding on? 
Sail with me down broad Potomac, past the Tomb of Washington; 
Feel the impress of his greatness stamped upon the Nation's heart, 
See each manly brow uncovered, lovely lips in awe apart ; 
Fear not while this reverence lingers with its clear, warm, hallowing light ; 
This must fade from brow and bosom ere can come our country's night." 

Elizabeth Carey Long (Maryland). 
12 177 



178 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

DECEMBER SECOND. 

1756 Colonel Washington wrote from Fort Loudoun to Governor Dinwiddle: 
" The Catawbas are out on the scout with an officer and some men of ours. They 
proposed to stay only one moon, and then to set out for their nation, with a re- 
port of the country and its conveniences to the enemy. It therefore behooves us 
to reward them well, and keep them in temper. The Indians expect to be sent 
back upon horses. I will not take upon me to buy horses without your orders." 

1776 General Washington, marching all night, reached Princeton at eight 
o'clock, and pushed on to Trenton with his main army, leaving General Stirling 
with two brigades to report the movements of the enemy. The disaffection and 
fright in New Jersey was so great that the army was not joined by 100 men in 
their retreat of as many miles. The Legislature and Governor left Princeton, 
and wandered from place to place, and on the border of the State dissolved this 
day, " leaving each member to look to his own safety, at a moment when the 
efforts of legislators would be of no avail." 

1783 The Commander-in-chief most cordially received and answered an ad- 
dress from the " Members of the Volunteer Associations and other inhabitants of 
the Kingdom of Ireland lately arrived in the City." 



"The Pale Faces came, and they said, 'You fought with us; you have forfeited youi- right 
to this land and must go away.' But General Washington said, ' Come back and remain in your 
land and make your homes with us.' Then the Prophet said, ' The white men are bad and can- 
not dwell in the regions of the Great Spirit, save General Washington.'" 

Feter Wilson (Iroquois), before the New York Historical Society (1847). 

DECEMBER THIRD. 

1783 General Washington, having ordered fireworks in the city of New York, 
celebrating the entrance of the Continental army, wrote to General Knox: ''The 
splendid display of fireworks last evening, was so highly satisfactory that I must 
request you to present to Captain Price, under whose direction they were pre- 
pared, and to the officers who assisted him my thanks for the great skill and atten- 
tion shown in the conduct of that business." 

1793 The malignant fever had subsided sufficiently for Congress to convene 
at Philadelphia on the day appointed by the Constitution. The President in his 
address urged the repeal of the tax on transportation of public prints, saying, 
"■ There is no resource so firm for the government of the United States as the 
affections of the people, guided by an enlightened policy." 

1798 General Washington, accompanied by Generals Hamilton and Pinck- 
ney, this day attended the second session of the fifth Congress. A crayon por- 
trait drawn by St, Memin commemorates his last appearance before Congress, 
and his last visit to Philadelphia. This accomplished French gentleman engraved 
the head which is much admired. 



" Washington inspiring order and spirit into troops hungry and in rags, stung by ingrati- 
tude, but betraying no anger, and ever ready to forgive ; in defeat invincible, magnanimous in 
conquest, and never so sublime as on that day when he laid down his invincible sword and sought 
his noble retirement: Here indeed is a character to admire and revere; a life without a stain, a 
fame without a flaw. Quando luverries pavem." WiUiam Makejteace Thackeray {England). 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 179 



DECEMBER FOURTH. 



1777 From White Marsh, Washington wrote to the president of Congress : 
" The enemy appeared on Chestnut Hill about three miles distant from our right 
wing. As soon as their position was discovered the Pennsylvania Militia were 
ordered from our right to skirmish with their light advanced parties, and I am 
sorry to mention that Brigadier General Irvine who led them on had the misfor- 
tune to be wounded and made prisoner." 

1783 At noon, in Fraunces' Tavern, New York, Washington took leave of 
his ofl&cers. Filling a glass with wine, he drank it and said : " With a heart full 
of love and gratitude I now take leave of you ; I most devoutly wish that your 
latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been 
glorious and honorable." He requested them to come to him. General Knox 
being nearest, he grasped his hand and silently embraced him, as he did the 
entire group. Not a word was spoken as they tearfully withdrew. The Gov- 
ernor, the council, and citizens then bade him farewell. A corps of light in- 
fantry was in attendance, and at two o'clock the General passed through their 
lines, and embarked for Paulus Hook. 

1786 To Clement Biddle, Esq., Washington wrote : "■ Is the Jerusalem Arti- 
choke to be had in Phila., could as much of the root be got as would stock an 
acre ? I want to bring it in with my other experiments for the benefit of stock." 



*' Weeping through that sad group he pass'd. 
Turned once, and gazed, and then was gone — 
It was his tenderest and his last," Anonymous (1783). 

DECEMBER FIFTH. 

1769 The Virginia House of Burgesses ordered: "That leave be given to 
bring in a bill for clearing and making navigable the river Patomack, from the 
Great Falls of said river up to Fort Cumberland ; and that Mr. Richard Henry 
Lee and Mr. Washington do prepare and bring in the same." 

1777 Washington by daylight had his troops in line at White Marsh to re- 
ceive the assault of the British, having been informed, by Lydia Darragh, of 
Lord Howe's intended surprise. The enemy discovered that a reception was 
awaiting them ; and marched back to their post, and the little Quaker landlady 
was never suspected of having given the information. 

1793 In his message to Congress respecting the French minister Genet and 
our relations with France, the President said : " The proceedings of the person 
whom they have unfortunately appointed their Minister Plenipotentiary here 
have breathed nothing of the friendly spirit of the nation which sent him ; their 
tendency on the contrary has been to involve us in war abroad, and discord and 
anarchy at home." 



"Washington saved his country by his aid in forming her constitution, and still more by the 
authority of his opinion in favor of that form of government. By his civil administration he 
saved the constitution, and with it, the Union. In a most illustrious example of wisdom and 
firmness, he saved us from French domination." Samuel M. Hopkins {Xetc York). 



180 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



DECEMBER SIXTH. 



1755 Colonel WasMngton, from the frontier, suggested to Governor Din- 
widdle : " If your Honor thinks proper to order the act of Assembly for appre- 
hending deserters, and against harboring them, to be published every Sunday 
in each Parish church, until the people are made acquainted with the law, it 
would have a very good effect. The community in general err more through 
ignorance than design." 

1775 " It is with surprise and astonishment the General learns that notwith- 
standing the information, that was communicated to the Connecticut troops of 
the relief being ordered to supply their places ; that many of them have taken 
their arms with them, and gone off, not only without leave but contrary to 
express orders." Orderly Book {Cambridge). 

1790 The President wrote his nephew George upon bringing him to Phila- 
delphia to college : " Every hour misspent is lost forever, and that future years 
cannot compensate for lost days at this period of your life. This reflection must 
show the necessity of an unremitting application to your studies." 



"Washington's administration was an administration of silent courage, unbending dignity 
and persevering firmness — not an administration of empty bravado, time-serving timidity and 
ever-changing expedients. Washington himself was above party. His noble mind held it in 
abhorrence and his great example threw it into disrepute. Party could not live in his presence. 
He never rewarded schemes and exertions of party spirit with a smile or an office." 

Charles Caldwell, M. D. {Pennsylvania). 

DECEMBER SEVENTH. 

1779 General Washington established winter quarters in the village of 
Morristowu, and the main army camped about three or four miles in the country. 
His headquarters (the Ford House, still standing) are now in the possession of 
and carefully preserved by the Washington Association of New Jersey. 

1782 Marquis de Chastellux took leave of General and Mrs. Washington, 
after a two days' visit at the Hasbrouck House. The genial Frenchman said : ''It 
is difficult to imagine the pain this separation gave me; but I have too much 
pleasure in recollecting the real tenderness with which it affected him, not to 
take a pride in mentioning it." Of this parting, which proved to be final, Wash- 
ington wrote : " Never did my heart so cleave unto a man." 

1787 Delaware adopted the Federal Constitution. This state was the first to act. 

1796 President Washington appeared before the two Houses of Congress for 
the last time; his address was comprehensive, temperate, and dignified. He 
urged the importance of a military academy ; and again dwelt upon a national 
university — '' To bring together the youth from every quarter of our country to 
assimilate the principles, opinions and manners of our countrymen, and thereby 
improve the prospect of a permanent Union." 



"His rule of justice, order, peace, "Land of his love, with one glad voice 

Made possible the world's release ; Let thy great sisterhood rejoice ; 

Taughtprinceandserf thatpowerisbutatrust, A century's suns o'er thee have risen and set, 
And rule, alone, which serves the ruled is just. And, God be praised, we are one nation yet." 

John Greenleaf Whittier {Massachusetts). 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 181 

DECEMBER EIGHTH. 

1776 General Washington and his army early this morning crossed the 
Delaware in boats at Trenton, and had barely reached the shore when Lord 
Cornwallis appeared on the banks of the river. Washington said: ^'Before I 
removed to the South side of the river I had all the Boats and other Vessels 
brought over, or destroyed, from Philadelphia upwards for seventy miles, and by 
guarding the Fords, I have baffled all their attempts to cross." 

1783 The Commander-in-chief was met at Frankfort by the President of 
Pennsylvania, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, Generals St. Clair and Hand, and 
the Philadelphia Troop of Horse, which escorted him into that city. His arrival 
was announced by the ringing of bells and the discharge of cannon. 

1790 The President, in his speech to Congress, said : '' The patronage of our 
commerce, of our merchants and seamen, has called for the appointment of con- 
suls in foreign countries. The establishment of the militia, of a mint, of a stan- 
dard of weights and measures, of the post ofiBce, and post roads, are subjects 
which are urged by their own importance." Referring to the apphcation for 
admission into the Union from the District of Kentucky, he spoke wdth laudation 
of the resources of the country and the intelligent and heroic character of her 
citizens. 



"This gentleman alone, Isyhis courteous and friendly demeanor, and stiil more by his frugal 
and simple manner of living, is able to unite the parties in America, and make the new Govern- 
ment effective, if such be possible." Rudolph van Dosstan {Netherlands). 

DECEMBER NINTH. 

1778 The Commander-in-chief and his troops were for a week kept in rapid 
motion "through the Jerseys." He said: "Sir Harry's late extra manoeuvers up 
the North River, kept me upon the march and counter march ; and employed too 
much of my attention to investigate his designs or to indulge in more agreeable 
amusements." 

1780 From New Windsor, Washington wrote Rochambeau : " I have been 
constantly employed since I broke up my camp at Passaic Falls, in visiting the 
winter cantonments of the ai-my between Morristown and this place. I have ex- 
perienced the highest satisfaction in the visits which Chevalier Chastellux, Vis- 
count Noailles, Count Dumas & Marquis de Laval have done me the honor to 
make me. I have only to regret, that their stay with me was so short." 

1795 The name of Timothy Pickering, Massachusetts, Secretary of State, 
was sent by the President to the Senate, to succeed Edmund Randolph, resigned. 
He was the third and last selection made by Washington to fill this position in 
his cabinet. Charles Lee of Virginia was appointed as Attorney-General, vice 
the late William Bradford of Pennsylvania. 



"The legacy he bequeathed to us when he retired from the chair of Government is worthy 
to be written in letters of gold, or rather to be inscribed on the hearts of an enlightened^ free 
and grateful people. Never could we have had any suitable conception of Washington had we 
not been favored with his letters which breathe at once the greatness of his views, the ardor of 
his affection for his country and the resolute firmness and perseverance of his soul." 

Samuel West, D. D. (Massachusetts, 1799). 



182 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



DECEMBER TENTH. 



1783 The Commander-in-chief received the President and Supreme Execu- 
tive Council of Pennsylvania. He wrote from Philadelphia to Colonel James 
McHenry of Maryland: ''After seeing the backs of the British forces turned 
upon us, and the Executive of the State of New York put into peacable posses- 
sion of their Capital, I set out for this place. At Baltimore I will spend one day, 
and then proceed to Annapolis and get translated into a private citizen." 

1799 Washington completed a drafted plan for the management of his plan- 
tation, arranging rotation of crops for several succeeding years. He left valu- 
able notes from close observation and experience in a life devoted to 

" The art that calls the harvests forth 
And feeds the expectant nations." 

These notes, covering many years, are in MS. now in the Department of State. 
This day he sent to James Anderson, Esq., an advertisement for Alexandria 
papers asking that " claims of every kind and nature whatsoever against me, be 
brought to you by the first of January, that I may wipe them off and begin 
anew. All balances in m}^ favor must either be received or reduced to special- 
ties that there may be no dispute hereafter." 



"Washington's character is to-day passing a thousand crucibles, tortured by fire, and in 
some few cases, it is to be feared that these crucibles are in the hands of those who would rather 
find the dross than the gold which underlies it. The feeling which prompted the rustic to vote 
for the ostracism of Aristides, because he was tired of having one man called 'the just,' still 
lives and festers in human hearts." Fhillijj Slaughter, U. D. {Virginia). 

DECEMBER ELEVENTH. 

1753 After a perilous journey. Major George Washington reached Fort le 
Bceuf, the French camp on the frontier. He presented despatches from Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie, in regard to the border infringements, to the commanding offi- 
cer Chevalier Legardeur de St. Pierre. Of him he wrote: " This Commander is 
a Knight of the Order of St. Louis. He is an elderly gentleman, and has much 
the Air of a Soldier." While the French officers held a council of war, Wash- 
ington made a plan of the fort, even to noting the number of canoes. 

1775 Mrs. "Washington, accompanied by her son, John Parke Custis, Esq., 
and his wife, arrived at Cambridge and were established at headquarters. Cap- 
tain Manly had captured two prizes. One vessel was loaded with perishable fruit, 
and to prepare for Mrs. Washington's comfort. Quartermaster Moylan ordered: 
'' You will please to pick up such things on board as you think will be accepta- 
ble to her; the General does not mean to receive anything without payment." 

1783 General and Mrs. Washington at Philadelphia took part in the service 
of thanksgiving which had been recommended by Congress on the eighteenth of 
October, to be observed upon the ending of the great struggle. 



"His work well done, the leader stepped aside, " Content to wear the higher crown of worth. 
Spurning a crown with more thankingly pride, While time endures. First Citizen of earth." 

James Jeffrey Boche {Ireland). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 183 

DECEMBER TWELFTH. 

1787 To Colonel Charles Carter, Washington said : " I thank you for your 
congratulations on my return from the Convention ; and with what you add re- 
specting the Constitution. My decided opinion of the matter is that there is no 
alternative between the adoption of it and anarchy. I am not a blind admirer 
of the Constitution to which I have assisted to give birth ; but I am fully per- 
suaded that it is the best that can be obtained at this day, and that it or disunion 
is before us." Pennsylvania this day ratified the Federal Constitution. 

1793 President Washington, in writing Arthur Young describing Mount 
Vernon, which then embraced 10,000 acres, said: "No estate in United America 
is more pleasantly situated than this. It lies in a high, dry and healthy country ; 
300 miles by water from the sea, and on one of the finest rivers in the world. Its 
margin is washed by more than ten miles of tide water. It is situated in a lati- 
tude between the extremes of heat and cold, and is sixteen miles from the Federal 
City which in the year 1800 will become the seat of the general government." 

1799 General Washington rode in a misty rain and snow for four hours over 
his plantation, and as far as Alexandria, and came home chilled ; this was his 
last ride. He wrote an important letter to Alexander Hamilton, in regard to the 
establishment of a National Military Academy. 



"While others become great by elevation, Washington becomes greater by condescension. 
Let not his motives be mistaken or forgotten. It was for him to set as great example in the 
relinquishment as in the acceptance of power." 

John Mitchell Mason, D. D. (Neiv York, 1800). 

DECEMBER THIRTEENTH. 

1776 Major-General Charles Lee was captured by a troop of British horse, 
in his headquarters, Mrs, White's Tavern, near Vealtown, N. J. He was three 
miles from his command, a division having 3,000 men, and had been dilatory 
about moving with the expedition. Washington at once, " with utmost regret," 
announced this disaster to the Pennsylvania Council of Safety. 

1783 The Commander-in-chief, en route to Annapolis, had the pre\dous even- 
ing attended a magnificent dinner and a ball in his honor, given him at " The City 
Tavern " by the merchants of Philadelphia. This morning he received and re- 
plied to the congratulations of the American Philosophical Society, the clergy, 
lawyers, and doctors of that city. 

1799 General Washington was attacked by his mortal illness, acute quinsy, 
arising from cold caught the previous day. Though suffering, he was cheerful 
and in the library until a late hour. When urged, upon retiring, to try some reme- 
dies for his hoarseness, he said : ^' 'T is nothing, let it go as it came." Before 
sunrise, however, Mrs. Washington became greatly alarmed, and aroused the 
family. His last writing was an entry in his journal recording, with usual care, 
notes on the weather. 



" Washington has finished life without the slightest diminution of his glory, tranquillity, and 
happiness. He died on the fields cultivated by himself, in the bosom of his country, of his fam- 
ily, of his friends ; and the veneration of America accompanied him to his grave." 

Jacques Mallet du Pan (Switzerland). 



184 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



DECEMBER FOURTEENTH. 



1782 Count de Rochambeau, after spending a week with the Commander-in- 
chief, left for France. The incident is pictured in one phrase from that noble- 
man's pen: " It was here [Newburg] that we took our most tender farewell; that 
I, as well as the officers who were with me, received from the American army the 
assurance of their sincere friendship forever." 

1798 General Washington left Philadelphia for the last time, having finished 
his conference with the President, Congress, the Secretary of War, and General 
Hamilton in regard to the '' Provisional Army." He was in unusual vigor and 
enjoyed meeting his old compatriots. 

1799 George Washington died at Mount Vernon, after a few hours of great 
suffering, at half-past ten in the evening. There had been but little hope from 
the beginning of his illness, and Washington appeared perfectly conscious of 
his condition ; he spoke very little and with difficulty. His devoted wife was by 
his side; also his secretary. Colonel Tobias Lear, and his two lifelong friends and 
physicians. Doctors Dick and Craik. His last words were : "■ It is well." 



"His patience, fortitude, and resignation never forsook him for a moment. In all his dis- 
tress he uttered not a sigh nor a complaint." Tobias Lear, Secretary of Washington. 

**The dark night of the tomb shall not obscure the lustre of his fame, and when brass and 
marble shall have fallen to decay, the sweet remembrance of his virtues, passing in proud trans- 
mission to remotest ages, shaU endiu-e forever." 

Major William Jackson, Secretary of Washijigton. 

DECEMBER FIFTEENTH. 

1753 Major Washington was anxious to leave Fort le Boeuf, having received 
from Chevalier St. Pierre a reply to Governor Dinwiddle's demand. He passed 
a day of great anxiety, but finally persuaded the Half-King to start for Venango. 
He said: "The French were not slack in their inventions to keep the Indians this 
Day also : But as they were obligated, according to Promise, to give the Presents, 
they then endeavored to try the Power of Liquor." The sequel showed that he 
was justified in fearing treachery. 

1775 John Parke Custis, Esq., who had escorted his mother and wife to 
Cambridge, gave to the Commander-in-chief fifty-three pounds contributed for 
the relief of their "suffering Brethren in Boston," by the County of Fairfax, Vir- 
ginia. All eyes and hearts of the Old Dominion were centered on the besieged 
city ; and the mite they could spare in this time of universal distress was cheer- 
fully given. 

i789 "Exercised on horse back about 10 o'clock — Called on the Secretary 
for the Department of War, and gave him the heads of many letters to be writ- 
ten to characters in the Western Country, relative chiefly to Indian Affairs. 
Visitors to the levee to-day were not very numerous, though respectable." Wash- 
ington's Dianj {Philadelphia). 



"■ The bright effulgence of his character shed its influence all around. Heroes sprang up at 
his name, and patriotism, kindling into enthusiastic ardor, when foreign or domestic insult 
threatened his country's honor or its independence, filled his ranks ; thousands flew to his stan- 
dard." John Fining {Delaware). 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 185 

DECEMBER SIXTEENTH. 

1770 Colonel Washington, always devoted to his wife's son, wrote to his 
preceptor. Rev. Dr. Boucher: "According to appointment Jacky Custis now 
returns to Annapolis. His mind is a good deal released from Study, and more 
than ever turned to Dogs, Horses, and Guns ; indeed upon Dress and Equipage, 
till of late he has discovered little Inclination of giving in to." 

1783 The Commander-in-chief, leaving Philadelphia, was escorted for some 
distance by the City Troop of Horse, Marquis de la Luzerne, and President 
Dickinson on horseback, Robert Morris and wife in a carriage. At Wilmington 
in the evening, he was welcomed by a salute of thirteen guns, and met by the 
Governor and distinguished citizens. The day following he was handsomely 
entertained at Baltimore. 

1799 The Washington Lodge, Alexandria, Va., called a special meeting, Dr. 
Elisha Dick presiding, to arrange for the funeral rites of masonry over the re- 
mains of their beloved brother, George Washington. A French frigate when 
opposite Mount Vernon this day tolled her beU in mournful salute to the dead 
chieftain. The British admiral, though an enemy, rendered the same homage 
when passing the tomb of Washington in 1814 as he approached the capital city. 
It has become the custom of the vessels of all nations, and is an act of reverence 
dailv observed. 



" Modest and unassuming, yet dignified in his manners ; accessible and communicative, yet 
superior to familiarity, he inspired and preserved the love and respect of all who knew him." 

Elisha Cullen Dick, M. D. {Virginia). 

DECEMBER SEVENTEENTH. 

1777 "The Commander-in-chief, with the highest satisfaction, expresses his 
thanks to the officers and soldiers for the fortitude and patience with which they 
have sustained the fatigue of the campaign. Although in some instances we 
unfortunately, failed: yet upon the whole Heaven hath smiled upon our arms 
and crowned them with signal success ; and we may upon the best grounds con- 
clude, that, by a spirited continuance of the measures necessary for oui* defence, 
we shall finally obtain the end of our warfare. Independence, Liberty and Peace." 
Orderly Bool ( Gulf Mill). 

1781 General Washington, having been " adopted " into " The Society of the 
Friendly sons of St. Patrick," said : "' I accept with singular pleasure the Ensign 
of so worthy a fraternity as that of the 'Sons of St. Patrick,' in this city — a 
society distinguished for the firm adherence of its members to the glorious cause 
in which we are embarked." The dinner given in his honor at "' The City Tavern" 
by these enthusiastic Irish gentlemen on the first day of the following January, 
was in all its appointments considered one of the most elegant of the period. The 
guests were the brilliant representatives of legislative, diplomatic, and military 
circles. 



"Who like Washington, after having saved a country resigned her crown, and retired to a 
cottage rather than reign in a capitol. Immortal man. He took from the battle its crime and 
from the conquest its chains, he left to the victorious the glory of his self denial, and turned 
upon the vanquished only the retribution of his mercy." Charles Phillips {Ireland). 



186 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



DECEMBER EIGHTEENTH. 



1776 The Commander-in-chief from Keith's farm-house, near Trenton, wrote 
his brother John Augustine : " You can form no idea of the perplexity of my 
situation. No man, I believe, ever had a greater choice of difficulties, and less 
means to extricate himself from them. However, under a full persuasion of the 
justice of our cause, I cannot entertain an idea that it will finally sink, tho' it 
may remain for some time under a cloud." 

1787 New Jersey ratified the Federal Constitution. 

1797 In a long letter written by Mrs. Washington to Mrs. Morris, this quaint 
passage occurs: "The General says he has entered into an engagement with Mr. 
Morris and several other gentlemen not to leave the theatre of this world before 
the year 1800, and it may be relied no breach of contract shall be laid to him on 
that account unless dire necessity bring it about, maugre all his exertions to the 
contrary; in that case, he shall hope they would do by him as he would by 
them — excuse it." 

1799 In the presence of relatives, friends, and neighbors, with masonic and 
military ceremonies, the body of George Washington was laid in the family vault 
at Mount Vernon. Rev. Thomas Davis of Christ Church, Alexandria, read the 
service. On a silver plate was engraved the name, date of birth and death; be- 
low were the words ^' Glorio Deo," and above " Surge ad judicium." 



" Thou art not dead, thou mighty king of men, "A hundred years are naught to living fame ; 
Thou rock of strength amid a storm-swept And this, a birthday of thy living prime." 
time, Edmund Smith Middleton {New York). 

DECEMBER NINETEENTH. 

1756 To the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Washington said: "My 
orders are dark, doubtful and uncertain ; today approved, tomorrow condemned. 
Left to act and proceed at hazard, accountable for the consequences, and blamed 
without the benefit of defence. However I am determined to bear up under all 
these embarrassments some time longer, in hopes of better regulation on the 
arrival of Lord Loudon, to whom I look for the future fate of Virginia." 

1776 " The casting of cannon is a matter that ought not to be one moment 
delayed ; and therefore I shall send Colonel Knox to put this in train, as also to 
have travelling carriages and shot provided, and laboratories established, one in 
Hartford and another in York." 

1792 The President wrote to the commissioners of the Federal Territory: 
" I am very apprehensive if your next campaign in the Federal City is not marked 
with vigor, it will cast such a cloud, and will so arm the enemies of the measure, 
as to enable them to give it a wound from which it will not easily recover. I am 
convinced of the expediency of importing a number of workmen from Europe." 



"To lose such a man at such a time is no common calamity to the world. With patriotic 
pride we review the life of our Washington and compare him with those in other countries who 
have been pre-eminent in fame." 

Samuel lAvermore, President of the Senate pro tern. {Dec. 19, 1799). 




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GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



187 



DECEMBER TWENTIETH. 

1780 General Washington wrote to Benjamin Franklin, in Paris : " Disap- 
pointed in the second division of French troops, but more especially in the ex- 
pected naval superiority which was the pivot upon which everything turned, we 
have been compelled to spend an inactive campaign, after a flattering prospect 
at the opening of it, and vigerous struggles to make it a dicisive one on our part." 

1783 The Coinmander-in-chief, by letter, informed the Congress of his arrival 
in Annapolis, and of his intention to ask permission to resign the commission he 
had '' the honor of holding in their service," and requesting to be informed if this 
should be done by letter or audience. The following motions were adopted : " Re- 
solved, That his excellency the Commander in chief be admitted to a public au- 
dience on Tuesday next at "twelve o'clock. Resolved, That a public entertainment 
be given the Commander in chief on Monday next." 

1798 Washington, from Mount Vernon, sent $500 for certain changes and 
decorations intended for his home in the Federal city, he having seen one in 
Philadelphia that pleased him. The residence was near the Capitol, and was 
burned by the British in 1814; but, the walls not being destroyed, it was rebuilt. 



"This weapon, O Freedom, 
Was drawn by thy son, 
And it never was sheathed 
Till the battle was won. 



"No stain of dishonor 

Upon it we see, 
'Twas never surrendered — 
Except to the Free." 
George P. Morris {Pennsylvania). 



DECEMBER TWENTY-FIRST. 

1777 The army was encamped at Valley Forge in temporary quarters which 
were covered with leaves. Washington had offered a reward of one hundred 
dollars to the officer or soldier who should substitute a covering for the huts 
cheaper and more quickly made than boards. " The General congratulates the 
Army, on the arrival of a French Ship, at Portsmouth ; with 48 brass cannon, — 
4 pounders, with carriages complete; 19 nine inch mortars; 2500 nine inch 
bombs; 2000 four pound balls; entrenching tools; 4100 stands of arms; a 
quantity of powder — and 61051 lbs of sulphur." Orderly Booh {Valley Forge). 

1779 From Morristown, Washington wrote Governor Livingston : " The sit- 
uation of our army at this time makes it necessary we should be very much upon 
our guard. They have more than double our force collected, and we are mould- 
ering away daily. Sir Henry Clinton cannot justify remaining inactive with a 
force so superior, and so many temptations to action." 

1783 At Annapolis the Commander-in-chief was occupied Sunday morning 
in returning such civil and official visits as etiquette required. 



"From the beginning of this republic the American view of war was nobler and wiser than 
any other nation. The ' horrid front' of America was never that of a despoiler or marauder or 
vainglory seeker. 'I heard the bullets whistle,' wrote Washington to his mother after his first 
battle, ' and believe me there is something charming in the sound.' There would have been no 
charm for the noble soul had the cause of the battle been unrighteous." 

John Boyle (yReilly {Ireland). 



188 GEORQE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

DECEMBER TWENTY-SECOND. 

1751 George Washington having sufficiently recovered from smallpox to 
venture upon a voyage, sailed from Carlisle Bay, Barbados, on the Industry, and 
reached Virginia the latter part of January. He left his brother on the islands, 
as was supposed in a state of convalescence, but a few weeks proved that the im- 
provement was only temporary. 

1753 Major Washington and party reached Venango, where they met their 
horses. ^' This creek is extremely crooked. I dare say the distance between the 
fort and Venango cannot be less than one hundred and thirty miles, to follow 
the meanders." Washington's Diary. 

1783 Congress gave a dinner, of over two hundred covers, to the Commander- 
in-chief at Annapolis. At night a magnificent ball was given in his honor by 
the Maryland Assembly ; Washington opened the ball with the charming Mrs. 
James MacCubbin, gallantly presenting her with an elegant fan. This occasion 
was graced by " the beauty and the chivalry " of the patriotic old colony, pre- 
senting a scene that has never been surpassed even in the gay old town of *' Anne 
Arundel." 



" As if the chosen instrument of Heaven, selected for the purpose of effecting the great de- 
signs of Providence respecting this our Western Hemisphere, it was the peculiar lot of this dis- 
tinguished man, at every epoch when the destinies of his country seemed dependent on the 
measures adopted, to be called by the united voice of his fellow-citizens to those high stations 
on which the success of those measures principally depended." 

John Marshall, Chief Justice of U. S. (Virginia). 

DECEMBER TWENTY-THIRD. 

1780 The Commander-in-chief, in an order from New Windsor to Colonel 
Humphreys, said : *' You will take command of such detachments of water guards 
now on the river, as you may think necessary, and with them attempt to surprise 
and bring off General Knyphausen from Morris's on York Island, or Sir Henry 
Clinton, from Kennedys House in the city ; if from the tide, weather and other 
circumstances, you shall judge the enterprise to be practicable." 

1783 To the Continental Congress George Washington resigned his com- 
mission as " Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and the French aids." 
He said : '' Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great 
theater of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to the august body, under 
whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission and take my 
leave of all the employments of public life." 

1799 The sixth United States Congress, at Philadelphia, passed resolutions 
of sorrow upon the death of George Washington, and appointed the 22d of Feb- 
ruary, 1800, as a day of official and national obsequies. General Henry Lee of 
Virginia was selected to pronounce the eulogy upon this occasion. 



"Thanks to God, His glory is consummated, Washington yet lives on earth in his spotless 
example, his spirit is in Heaven. Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic 
General, the patriotic Statesman and the virtuous Sage. Let them teach these children never 
to forget that the fruit of his labours and his example are their inheritance." 

Samuel Dexter, Chairman Committee U. S. Senate (1799). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 189 



DECEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH. 



1775 General Washington, in his appeal to Governor Cooke, said: "Not- 
withstanding the great paius taken by the Quartermaster General to procure 
blankets for the army, he finds it impossible to procure a number sufficient. Our 
soldiers are in great distress ; and I know of no other way to remedy the evil, 
than applying to you. Cannot some be got from the different towns? Most 
houses could spare one ; some of them many." 

1776 The Commander-in-chief established headquarters at Valley Forge in 
the house of one Isaac Potts, a Quaker. It was a two-story stone building to 
which he added a large log-room. The troops were hard at work being ''hutted," 
as it was termed. The camp was derisively named the " Indian Village " by the 
British, who were passing a recklessly gay winter in Philadelphia, and losing a 
great opportunity. Washington wrote to the Passamaquoddy chiefs : " I have a 
piece of news to tell you which I hope you will attend to. Our enemy the King 
of Great Britain endeavored to stir up all the Indians from Canada to South 
Carolina against us. But our brethren of the Six Nations and their allies the 
Shawanese and the Delawares would not hearken to the advice of the messenger 
sent among them, but kept fast hold of our ancient covenant chain." 



"Whereas, the congress of the United States in honor of the memory of General George 
Washington have this day resolved, that it be recommended to the people of the United States 
to wear crape on the left arm, as mourning, for thirty days, and that the President of the United 
States be requested to issue a proclamation notifying them throughout the United States of said 
recommendation." John Adams {Dec. 24, 1799). 

DECEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1776 General Washington crossed the Delaware during the night at Mc- 
Konkeys Ferry, with 2,400 men and twenty pieces of artillery, and marched his 
army to Trenton. This movement was pronounced one of the most hazardous 
feats and the most brilliant manoeuver of the war. The place is called '' Wash- 
ington's Crossing," and the boldness and skill displayed has been the subject of 
tongue, pen, and pencil. 

1781 General Washington, his wife, and family took Christmas dinner with 
their intimate friends Mr. and Mrs. Robert Morris at their beautiful home on 
the banks of the Schuylkill. 

1783 George Washington, as a private citizen, surrounded by his family, 
observed the Christmas festivities at Mount Vernon. He indulged the hope of 
retirement from public life, and in the congenial occupation of agi'iculture enjoy- 
ing the domestic felicity which his happy home afforded. 



• Dark were the clouds aroimd our Washington, " It was the birthday of the Prince of Peace ; 

When, on the rivei-'s bank that night he stood. But not as yet his gracious power has 

The clouds without were dark; but darker quenched 

those The flames of war ; and Washington must 

Which gathered o'er his heart. stand. 

But he stands firm. Nor treacherous friend Defender of his country, 'gainst the blows 

nor foe Of tyrants who would beat her to the earth; 

Has power to shake a soul so truly great. His 'country's saviour, not yet understood." 

Tliomas Hill, LL.D., President of Harvard (1799). 



7 



190 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 

DECEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1753 ^' The horses became less able to travel every day, and the roads be- 
coming much worse by a deep snow, continually freezing; therefore, as I was 
uneasy to get back, to make Report of my Proceedings to his Honor, the Gov- 
ernor, I determined to prosecute my journey the nearest way through the Woods, 
on Foot. I took my necesary papers ; pulled off my clothes and tied myself up 
in a Watch-coat. Then with my Gun in Hand, and Pack on my Back, in which 
were my Papers and Provisions, I set out with Mr. Gist, fitted in the same 
manner." Washington'' s Diary. 

1776 The Battle of Trenton was fought this day. It was the most unex- 
pected engagement of the war. Washington surprised the Hessians, took nearly 
a thousand prisoners, several cannon, valuable munitions of war, and recrossed 
the Delaware that night. At this engagement the gallant Hessian officer. Colonel 
Rohl, was mortally wounded. 

1799 At Philadelphia both houses of Congress marched in procession from 
the Hall of Independence to the German Lutheran Church, and listened to a 
eulogy upon George Washington, pronounced by General Henry Lee of Virginia. 
In this address appears the epigrammatic phrase : "■ The man who was first in war; 
first in peace ; and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 



"To his equals he was condescending; to his inferiors kind: and to the dear object of his 
affections exemplary tender correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue 
always felt his fostering hand ; the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public 
virtues." Henry Lee ( Virginia). 

DECEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1753 " Near Murdering Town we feU in with a party of French Indians who 
had lain in wait for us. One of them fired at Mr. Gist or me, not 15 steps off, 
but fortunately missed. We took this Fellow into Custody, and kept him until 
about 9 o'clock at Night, then let him go and walked all the remaining part of 
the night without making any stops." Washington'' s Diary. 

1776 The Congress, in session at Baltimore, being profoundly impressed 
with the gravity of the situation, and convinced that during the pending crisis 
authority, decision, and vigor were demanded in the field, invested Washington 
with full power for six months, to raise troops, levy supplies, appoint officers, 
etc. ; in fact, made him military dictator. 

1778 The Commander-in-chief was present in Philadelphia at the Festival of 
St. John the Evangelist, and marched in the masonic procession. In the sermon 
preached at Christ^Church this day to the brethren. Brother Smith, D. D., referred 
to Washington as " the Cincinnatus of America." The following year Washing- 
ton was one of sixty-eight visiting brethren at the American Union Lodge, ob- 
serving the same festival at Morristown ; and in 1782 he celebrated the anniver- 
sary with King Solomon's Lodge, Poughkeepsie. The centenary of this event 
is commemorated by a medal issued by the lodge. 



"How truly great must their glory be, which is proclaimed by the savage of the woods, in. 
concert with all the civilized nations of the world." 

Simon Chaudron, French Lodge L'AmeniU (1800). 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 191 

DECEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1758 Colonel George Washington resigned command of the Virginia troops 
to take his seat in the House of Burgesses. This body voted him the thanks of 
the colony, and his confused attempt at a reply was interrupted by the Speaker : 
" Sit down, Mr. Washington — Sit down your modesty is equal to your valor 
and that surpasses the power of any language I possess." 

1778 • General Washington wrote to Benjamin Harrison: "If I was to be 
called upon to draw a picture of the times and of Men, from what I have seen 
and heard, and in part known, I should in one word say that idleness, dissipation 
& extravagance seems to have laid hold of most of them. That speculation, 
peculation and an insatiable thirst for riches seems to have got the better of 
every other consideration and almost every order of men. I need not repeat to 
you that I am alarmed and wish to see my countrymen roused." 

1781 The Commander-in-chief, in obedience to command, appeared before 
Congress in Philadelphia. He was escorted and introduced by two members, 
and received the address of thanks and congratulation upon the evacuation of 
Yorktown from President John Hanson. After replying in a few short sen- 
tences, he retired. 



"There's a star in the west that shall never go down, 

Till the records of valour decay ; 
We must worship its light, though 'tis not oui* own, 

For liberty bursts in its ray. 
Shall the name of a Washington ever be heard 

By a freeman, and thrill not his breast? 
Is there one out of bondage that hails not the word 

As the Bethlehem — star of the west ?" London Dispatch. 

DECEMBER TWENTY-NINTH. 

1753 Major Washington and Mr. Gist ''with but one poor Hatchet" suc- 
ceeded in making a raft to cross the Monongahela River. Washington was 
thrown out in the middle of the stream between the floating ice, but was saved 
" by catching hold of one of the Raft Logs." Mr. Gist was so frost-bitten that 
they remained on an island overnight in this suffering condition. 

1782 Washington wrote to Rochambeau: ''It is with infinite satisfaction, 
that I embrace the earliest opportunity of sending to Philadelphia the cannon 
which Congress were pleased to present your Excellency. I could not resist the 
pleasure of forwarding these pieces to you previous to your departure, in hopes 
the inscription and devices, as well as the execution may be agreeable to your 
wishes." Rochambeau " instructed the French Minister to keep them till peace, 
when they may be carried over without danger of being taken." 

1791 The President said to Cornplanter, Halftown, and Great-tree, chiefs of 
the Seneca Nation : " The murders that have been committed on some of your 
people by the bad white men, I sincerely lament, and reprobate. I earnestly 
hope that the real culprets will be secured and punished as they deserve." 



"Frederick the Great considered the achievements of Washington between the 25th of Dec. 
and 4th of Jan., 1776, 1777 — ten days — the most brilliant in the annals of military achieve- 
ments." John Fiske, LL. D. {Connecticut). 



192 GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



DECEMBER THIRTIETH. 



1775 " As the General is informed that numbers of free negroes are desirous 
of enlisting', he gives leave to the recruiting officers to entertain them and prom- 
ises to lay the matter before the Congress who he doubts not will approve of it." 
Orderly Book [CamhrkUje). 

1776 Reinforced by recruits, General Washington determined to return and 
occupy Trenton, where he found comfortable quarters in '' The True American 
Inn." Owing to heavy ice, the recrossiug of the Delaware was dangerous and 
tedious, occupying two days. The General proudly said : " It was safely effected 
with the troops that were with me on the morning of the 26th." 

1781 The Commander-in-chief wrote to General Lincoln, the Secretary of 
War, regarding the " two stands of colors taken at Yorktown " : " You have en- 
hanced the value of the trophies with which Congress have been pleased to honor 
me in their resolve of the 29th of Oct., by the polite and affectionate manner of 
presenting them." 



"For a lifo devoted to your service, what does Washington deserve? The rising trophied 
column shall from far attract the admiring eye. The enduring statue, with emulative care, will 
present to revering posterity his august attitude and awful form. History shall be immortal, 
as just to his worth. Poesy shall robe him in unborrowed charms. A city after the majestic 
model of his mind, bearing his name, shall concentrate our national glory, as he does our affec- 
tions. Tliese a grateful empire will voluntarily pay ; but ho deserves more ; he deserves the only 
reward he would ever accept, he deserves that you be faithful to yourselves, that you be free, 
united, and happy." Charles Pinckney Sumner {Massachusetts, 1799). 

DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST. 

1753 " I went up about three miles to the Mouth of Youghiogany to visit 
Queen Aliquippa, who had expressed great concern that we passed her in going 
to the Fort. I made her a Present of a Watch-coat and a Bottle of Rum ; which 
latter was thought much the better Present of the Two." Washington's JDiary. 

1758 The officei-s of the Virginia troops fi'om Fort Loudoun sent Colonel 
Washington at Williamsburg an address uj)on his resignation of the command 
of the Virginia forces, expressing their affection, respect, and best wishes for his 
future prosperity and welfare. 

1775 The Commander-in-chief, never failing to note a meritorious deed, 
wrote to the president of Congress : " General Lee has just returned from his 
excursion to Rhode Ishmd. He has pointed out the best method the island would 
admit of for its defense. He has endeavored all in his power to make friends of 
those that were our enemies." 

1788 To Samuel Hanson, Washington wrote : '^ If I should once more be led 
into the walks of public life, it is my fixed determination to enter there, not only 
unfettered by promises, but even unchargeable with creating or feeding the ex- 
pectation of any man living for my assistance to office." 



" Washington is the mightiest name of earth. Long since mightiest in the cause of civil 
liberty ; still mightiest in moral reformation. On that name no eulogy is expected. It cannot 
be. To add brightness to the sun, or glory to the name of Washington is alike impossible. Let 
none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name and in its naked, deathless splendor leave 
it shining on." Abraham Lincoln (Kentucky), President of the United States. 



INDEXES. 



INDEX OF OPINIONS. 



The estimate of an individual's claim to fame cannot be established in less than a generation. Utter- 
ances msst fervent change to faint praise, and feverish expressions of admiration are short-lived. In 
rare instances, of which George Washington is an example, the enthusiasm of contemporaries is echoed 
and swelled a century later. The result may with confidence be accepted as the world's verdict. 

This record is inscribed from Pitt to Gladstone ; from Erskine to Macaulay ; from Byron to Tenny- 
son ; from Voltaire and Lafayette to' Brougham and Thackeray ; from Adams, Jefferson, and Jackson to 
Lincoln, Harrison, and Cleveland; from Jay to Fuller; from John Marshall and Washington Irving 
to Bradley Johnston and Cabot Lodge ; from Laurens to Winthrop, Prentice to Whittier ; from Key to 
LoweU — each bringing an analysis that shall forever burn, an incense before his illustrious character. 

In the quotations culled from the vast mass of opinions, — many hundred, — the quaint, even amusing, 
are not rejected, but have been mingled with the most choice utterances of English, their very crudity 
making conspicuous their sincerity. The endeavor has been to gather the opinions of men of every 
degree. 



Abbott, Rev. John S. C, 7. 
Abrahams, Annie Alido, 109. 
Adams, Abigail, 4. 
Adams, Charles Francis, 150. 
Adams, John, 91, 189. 
Adams, John Quincy, 57. 
Adams, Samuel, 11. 
Alden, Timothy, 8. 
Alfleri, 173. 

Alison, Sir Archibald, 157. 
Allen, James Lane, 53. 
Alsop, Richard, 170. 
Ames, Fisher, 64. 
Andi'ews, John, D. D., 149. 
Annapolis, 171. 
Anon., 57, 81, 163, 179. 
Armitage, Thomas, D. D., 89. 
Arnold, Samuel Greene, 155. 
Arthur, Chester A., 27. 

Baker, William S., 18. 
Bancroft, Aaron, 52. 
Bancroft, George, 83. 
Barb^-Marbois, Marquis Franfois 

de, 112. 
Barbour, James, 156. 
Barnes, Alexander, 116. 
Barnum, Phineas T.. 70. 
Bedford, Gunning, 106. 
Bell, John, 22. 
Bently, William, 153. 
Bethune, George Washington, 174. 
Bigelow, Timothy, 131. 
Blanchard, Claude, 137. 
Boner, John Henry, 151. 
Botta, Carlo. 124. 
Bourg, Baron Cromot du, 152. 
Boyesen, Hjalmar Hjorth. 59. 
Braddock, General Edward, 40. 
Brent, John Carroll, 20. 
Brissot, Jean Pierre, 135. 
British Register, 101. 



Broglie, Prince de, 73. 
Brooks, Erastus, 166. 
Brooks, Phillips, D. D., 2. 
Brougham, Lord, 115. 
Brown, Henry Armitt, 25. 
Bryant, William CuUen, 28. 
Bryce, James, M. P., 133. 
Buchan, Earl, 62. 
Bulow, Hans von, 109. 
Burns, Robert, 13. 
Burroughs, Charles, 41. 
Byron, 130. 

Caldwell, Charles, M. D., 180. 
Caldwell, Thomas, M. D., 46. 
Calvert, George Henry, 61. 
Carey, William P., 124. 
Carlyle, 118. 
Can-ington, Henry Bebee, LL. D., 

169. 
Carroll, Right Rev. John, 163. 
Channing, William Ellery,D.D.,47. 
Chastellux, Marquis de, 134. 
Chateaubriand, 36. 
Chaudron, Simon, 190. 
Choate, Rufus, 34. 
Clark, Thomas M., D. D., 39. 
Cleveland, Grover, 146. 
Combe, George, 107. 
Conway, Moncure D., 103. 
Conway, Gen. Thomas. 14. 
Cook, Ehza, 145. 
Cooke, Rose Teny, 37. 
Corry, John, 127. 
Cox, Samuel Sullivan, 5. 
Cowdin, James B., 151. 
Cranch, Christopher Pearse, 76. 
Crittenden, John .J., 26. 
Curtis, George William, 35. 

Daniel, John W., 142. 
Davis, John, 80. 

195 



Dawes, Thomas, 175. 

Depew, Chauncey Mitchell, LL.D., 

58. 
D'Estaing, Count, 146. 
Dexter, Samuel, 188. 
De Witt, Cornelis, 126. 
Dick, Elisha Cullen, M. D., 185. 
Diuwiddie, Gov., to Gen. Aber- 

crombie, 56. 
Dorsheimer, WilHam, 106. 
Dosstan, Rudolph van, 181. 
Drake, Joseph Rodman, 116. 
Dumas, Count, 70. 
Dunham, Captain Josiah, 95, 
Durrett, Reuben T., 142. 
Duyckinck, Evert A., 37. 
Dwight, Timothy, D. D. , LL. D., 56. 

Edgeworth, Maria, 162. 

Edmonds, Cyrus R., 147. 

Erskine, Lord, to Washington, 71. 

Essex Journal, 161. 

Evarts, WUliam Maxwell, 100. 

Everett, Edward, 42. 

Everett, Oliver, 167. 

Faulcon, Fehx, 99. 

Fersen, Count de, 141. 

Fiske, John, LL. D., 191. 

Fontanes, Marquis Louis de, 10. 

Fox, Charles James, 6. 

Franklin, Benjamin, to Washing- 
ton, 159. 

Franklin's Will — Codicil, 8. 

Frelinghuyzen, Frederick, 24. 

Freneau, Philip, 153. 

Frothingham, Octavius E., D. D., 
115. 

PuUer, Melville W., 11. 

Gales, Joseph, 9. 

Garfield, James Abraham, 138. 



196 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



Garland, Augustus H., 98. 
Gentleman's Magazine, 126. 
Gerard, 6. 

Gibbons, John, Cardinal, 82. 
Gist, Mordecai, 172. 
Gladstone, William E., 98, 132. 
GottheU, Gustav, ,D. D., 87. 
Grahame, James, LL. D., 87. 
Grattan, Sir Hem-y, 110. 
Greely, Adolphus Washington, 157. 
Green, John Richard, LL. D., 107. 
Greene, General Nathaniel, 85. 
Greenwood, Grace, 39. 
Griflan, John, 118. 
Griswold, Rufus Wilmot, 75. 
Guizot, 117. 

Hale, Edward Everett, 77. 
Hale, Sarah Josepha, 16. 
Hamlin, Hannibal, 105. 
Hamilton, Alexander, 101. 
Hamilton, Sir William, 48. 
Hanson, Charles W., 167. 
Harris, William Torrey, 165. 
Harrison, Benjamin, 40. 
Harte, Francis Bret, 29. 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 92. 
Hay, John, 171. 
HazUtt, William, 46. 
Headley, Rev. Joel Tyler, 69. 
Herzburg, Count, 122. 
Hildreth, Richard, 108. 
Hill, Thomas, LL. D., 18 9. 
HUUard, Henry W., 10. 
Hoar, George Frisbie, 128. 
Hoist. Dr. von, 80. 
Hopkins, Lemuel, 34. 
Hopkins, Samuel M., 179. 
Hopkinson, Francis, 42. 
Hoppin, James Mason, LL. D., 85. 
Houssaye, Ars^ne, 67. 
Howard, Oliver Otis, 30. 
Howell, Richard, 59. 
Howland, George, 175. 
Humphreys, Col. David, 89. 
Huntington, Frederick D., 100. 

" Independence," 58. 
Irving, Washington, 49. 
Isaacs, Rabbi A. S., 55. 

Jackson, Andrew, 168. 
Jackson, Major WUliam, 184. 
Jay, John, 111. 
Jay, Rev. Wm., 33. 
Jefferson, Thomas, 113. 
Jones, John Paul, 130. 
Johnston, Bradley T. , 54. 
Johnston, Frances A., 164. 
Johnston, John B., D. D., 119. 

Key, Francis Scott, 136. 

King, Rufus, 74. 

Kirkland, Caroline Matilda, 61. 

Kirkland, John Thornton, LL. D., 

50. 
Knox, Hugh, D. D., 94. 
Knox, Samuel, 2G. 

Lafayette, 98, 114. 
Lamartine, 48. 
Lamb, Martha J., 65. 



Lanman, Charles, 140. 

Lansdowne, Marquis of, 141. 

Lear, Tobias, 184. 

Lecky, William E. H., 134. 

Lee, Pitzhugh, 55. 

Lee, Henry, 190. 

Leighton, Sir Frederick, 111. 

Lettsom, Dr., 7. 

Lieber, Francis, 75. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 192. 

Lincoln, General Benjamin, 38. 

Linn, Rev. John Blair, A. M., 148. 

Livermore, Samuel, 186. 

Lodge, Henry Cabot, 97. 

London Chronicle, 84. 

London Courier, 53. 

London Despatch, 191. 

Long, Elizabeth Gary, 177. 

Lossing, Benson John, 79. 

Low, Samuel, 60. 

Lowell, 98. 

Luzerne, 19. 

Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 14. 
Macintosh, Sir James, 164. 
Macready, William Charles, 149. 
Madison, James, 128. 
Mandrillon, Joseph, 69. 
Marble block sent by Greece for 

Washington Monimient, 12. 
Marshall, John, 188. 
Mason, John Mitchell, D. D., 18, 

183. 
Massachusetts Legislature, 122. 
Massey, Rev. Lee, 165. 
McCarthy, Justin, 160. 
McLane, Robert M., 72. 
McMasters, Hugh, 68. 
Medal, U. S. Mint, 168. 
Mercer, Captain George, 1. 
Middleton, Edmund Smith, 186. 
Minot, George Richard, 159. 
Mirabeau, 16. 
Monroe, Harriet, 155. 
Moore, Thomas, 104. 
Morris, George P., 187. 
Morris, Gouverneur, 105. 
Morris, Martin P., 15. 
Moustier, Comte de, 20. 
Muench, Hugo, 110. 

Napoleon, 21, 66. 

Naquet, Alfred Joseph, 63. 

Nicolay, John G., 31. 

Oratorio Ode, 158. 
O'ReiUy, John Boyle, 187. 

Paine, Robert Treat, Jr., 139. 
Paine, Thomas, 73. 
Pan, Jacques Mallet du, 183. 
Parke, John, 147. 
Parker, Joseph, D. D., 102. 
Parker, Myron M., G. M., 51. 
Parker, Theodore, 133. 
Parton, James, 104. 
Paulding, James Kirke, 23. 
Peabody, Andrew P., LL. D., 17. 
Pennsylvania Journal, 174. 
Perry, William Stevens, 12. 
Phelps, Edward John, 143. 
Phillips, Charles, 185. 
Phister, Thomas R., 21. 



Pickett, James C, 93. 
Ponceau, Pierre du, 36. 
Potter, Henry C, D. D., 35. 
PoweU, John W., 144. 
Prentice, George D., 88. 
Prescott, William Hickling, 79. 
Proctor, Edna Dean, 99. 
Putnam, James Osborne, 139. 

Quincy, Eliza Morton, 68. 

Ramsay, David, LL. D., 132. 
Rangab6, Alexander Rizo, 154. 
Raumer, George von, 44. 
Revolutionary Song, 148. 
Ritchie, Thomas, 72. 
Roberdeau, Colonel Isaac, 156. 
Robertson, Archibald, 90. 
Robin, Abb4 Claude C, 25. 
Roche, James Jeffrey, 182. 
Rouarie, Marquis de la, 150. 
Rowson, Susanna, 114. 
Rush, Richard, 131. 
Russell, Lord John, 88. 

Sangster. Margaret Elizabeth, 92, 
Sartain, John, 82. 
Schaff, Philip, D. D., LL. D., 152. 
Schenck, Noah Hunt, D. D., 123. 
Schofleld, John M., U. S. A, 120. 
S^gur, Count de, 15. 
Seward, William Henry, 62. 
Sharpless, James, 54. 
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 169. 
Shroeder,JohnFrederick,D.D.,84. 
Sigourney, Lydia H., 140. 
Silly, Chevalier de, 29. 
Sismondi, 47. 

Slaughter, Phillip, D. D., 182. 
Smith, Elizabeth Oakes, 44. 
Smith, George Williamson, D. D., 

176. 
Smith, Goldwin, LL. D., 136. 
Smith, Jeremiah, D. D., 162. 
Smith, Samuel Stanhope, LL.D., 95. 
Smith, S. F., D. D., 28. 
Smucker, Samuel M., 52. 
Smyth, William, LL. D., 160. 
Song, 22, 108. 
Southey, Robert, 27. 
Sparks, Jared, 41. 
Spofford, Ainsworth R., 96. 
Sprague, William Buell, D.D., 12L 
Stanley, Dean, 76. 
Stevenson, Adlai E., 138. 
Stockton, Francis Richard, 94. 
Storj', Joseph, 102. 
Stori-s, Richard S., D. D., 173. 
Street, Alfred B., 137. 
Strong, Nathan, D. D., 143. 
Sullivan, William, 123. 
Sumner, Charles, 125. 
Sumner, Charles Pinckney, 192. 
Swartz, Joel, D. D., 135. 

Talleyrand. 2. 

Tappan, David, D. D., 43. 

Tennyson, 91. 

Thackeray, William Makepeace, 

178. 
The Independent, 9. 
Thomas, E. S., 38. 



INDEX OF OPINIONS. 



197 



Thompson, Maurice, 172. 
Thoreau, Henry David, 19. 
Toner, Joseph Meredith, M. D.,129. 
Tuckerman, Henry Theodore, 43. 
Tupper, Martin Farquhar, 103. 

Upham, Charles Wentworth, D.D., 
66. 

Vance, Zebulon B., 5. 
Vining, John, 184. 
Voltaire, 63. 
Voorhees, Daniel W., 77. 

Walpole, Horace, 3. 
Wansey, Henry, 13. 
Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 78. 



Warrior, Big, to General Jackson, 
50. 

Washington, George, 74, 93, 170. 

Washington, Mary, 24, 125. 

Washington to his troops at York- 
town, 154. 

Washington to Governor Patrick 
Henry, 166. 

Washington to President Adams, 
80. 

Washington to Captain Samuel 
Morris, 71. 

Washington to Pierre Auguste 
Adet, 3. 

Watson, Elkanah, 30. 

Webster, Daniel, 67. 

Weems, Rev. Mason L., 78 

Weld, Isaac, 158. 



West, Samuel, D. D., 181. 
Wharton, Charles Henry,D.D., 121. 
Wharton, Rev. Dr., 45. 
Wheatley, Phillis, 31. 
Whipple, Edwin Percy, 127. 
White, Captain Samuel, 60. 
White, Richard Grant, 119. 
Whitman, Walt, 117. 
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 180. 
Wilbur, Richard Hooker, 45. 
Willard, Prances Elizabeth, 51. 
Williams, John Mason. LL. D., 90. 
Williams, William, 112. 
Wilson, Peter, 178. 
Wilson, Rev. Robert, 23. 
Winthrop, Robert C, 4. 
Wirt, William, 83. 
Woolley, Celia Parker, 86. 



y" 




GENERAL INDEX. 



Adams, Jolm, member of tlie sec- 
ond Continental Congress, 70 ; 
at Watertown, 10 ; chief of the 
Great Council Fire at Philadel- 
phia, 13 ; introduces a resolution 
that Congress give a vote of 
thanks to General Washington, 
45 ; inaugurated second Presi- 
dent of the United States, 35. 

Adams, John Quincy, appointed 
Minister to The Hague, 80. 

Adams, Samuel, seconds the nomi- 
nation of Washington, 88. 

Adet, Citizen, French Ambassa- 
dor, 3. 

Agrieultxiral Society established, 
149. 

Alaquippa, Queen, and her son, 86. 

Albany, N. Y., receives Washing- 
ton, 94. 

Alexandria. Washington allows 
servants to go to races at, 150. 

'^Alexandria," Congress of, 50. 

Alexandria, General Washington 
thanks the citizens of, 171. 

AUen, Colonel, the brave, 54, 71. 

American Philosophical Society 
elects Washington a member, 
24, 183. 

American Union Lodge, Reading, 
Mass., 45. 

Andr6, Major, in disguise, captured 
near Tarrytown, 140 ; court mar- 
tial ordered for, 143 ; pronounced 
a spy, 143 ; his request to be shot 
denied, 145 ; executed at 12 
o'clock, 146. 

Annapolis receives Washington 
retiu-ning from Yorktown, 171. 

ApoUo room, Raleigh Tavern, 113. 

Aquackenonk Bridge, troops pass 
over, 171. 

Arbuthnot, Admiral, sailing of, 
with British reinforcements, 112. 

Armies, allied, cross at Kings 
Fei'ry, 125. 

Armstrong, General, Washing- 
ton's letter to, 46. 

Army, French, arrival of, 105. 

Army, movements from Boston, 
56; marched through Philadel- 
phia, 124 ; organization of the 
new army, 1. 

Arnold, Benedict, given a com- 
mand for Quebec, 136 ; given 
command of West Point, 114; 



reprimanded by Washington, 
14 ; his integrity never ques- 
tioned, 156. 

Arnold, Mrs. Benedict, Washing- 
ton breakfasts with, 141. 

Articles of capitulation, York- 
town, 154. 

Asbiiry, Bishop Francis, enter- 
tained at Mount Yernon, 78. 

AsgUl, Captain, hostage for Cap- 
tain Huddy, 66 ; arrives in Phila- 
delphia, 83 ; released, 171. 

Asted, British vessel, 177. 

Austria, Emperor of, 72. 

Badges of distinction to be re- 
moved, 119. 

Bache, Mrs. Sarah Franklin, 8, 9. 

Baldwin's, Colonel, Artificers, 118. 

BaU in Fredericksburg, General 
Washington escorts Ms mother 
to a, 167. 

BaU, Joseph, 74. 

Baltimore, Lord, 18. 

Banister, John, delegate in Con- 
gress, 59. 

Banquet Hall, Mount Vernon, 19. 

Baptism of George Washington, 
22. 

Barney, Captain, first accredited 
ofi&cer of the U. S. Navy, 85. 

Barton, Colonel William, of Rhode 
Island, 132. 

Beaumarchais, 2. 

" Beefsteak and Tripe" Club, 168. 

Belknap, Rev. Jeremy, presented 
with porti'ait of Washington, 
162. 

Belvoir, residence of George Wm. 
Fairfax, 9. 

Biddle, Clement, of Philadelphia, 
179. 

Bingham, Senato' and Mrs., 54. 

Birthnight Ball, 84. 

Blaine, Ephraim, Esq., 115. 

Blankets, distress for, 189. 

Block Houses at Saratoga, 95. 

"Blues, The," militai-y escort at 
Washington's funeral, 57. 

Blunt, Captain John, the old salt, 
162. 

Bceuf, Fort Le, Major Washington 
starts for, 160. 

Boston, anniversary of the massa- 
cre, 30 ; Athenaeum, Washing- 
ton's libraiy at, 89; evacuated 
199 



by the British, 41 ; poor of, fed 
by Washington, 174 ; Selectmen 
of, 37 ; taken formal possession 
of, ^2. 

Boucher, Dr. Jonathan, preceptor 
of Jacky Custis, 83. 

Boudinot, Ellas, 49; president of 
Congress, 170. 

Boughton, Captain Nicholson, re- 
ceives the first naval commis- 
sion, 130. 

Bouquet, Colonel, approves of 
Indian dress, 104. 

Braddock, General, invites Colon el 
Washington to join his '' mili- 
tary family," 40; at the Con- 
gress of Alexandria, 56 ; death 
of, 103. 

Bradford, William, 2. 

Brandywine, the Battle of, 134. 

Bread and Butter BaU, 24. 

Brehan, Marchioness de, at Mount 
Vernon, 162. 

Brest, French troops blocked up 
in, 127. 

Brigadier-Generals under Wash- 
ington, 91. 

Brinkerhoff, Colonel John, 149. 

Bristol, Washington received with 
enthusiasm at, 39. 

British, destroy buUdings in Fair- 
field and Norwalk, 102 ; concen- 
trate troops in New York, 101. 

Brooke, Captain Christopher, god- 
father to George Washington, 
22. 

Buchan, Earl of, applied to for 
thrifty Scotchmen to come to 
Mount Vernon as farmers. 27; 
Washington sends plan of Wash- 
ington City to, 62. 

Bunker HUl, 63. 

Burgesses, House of, 60 ; orders 
that the Potomac be made navi- 
gable, 179. 

Burgoyne, General, regarding ex- 
change of. 57. 

Burr, Lieutenant-Colonel Aaron, 
158. 

Cabinet, first, completed. 142. 
Cadwalader. John, of Maryland. 

130. 
Calvert, Benedict, 50. 
Calvert, Eleanor, daughter of 

Benedict Calvert, Esq., 18. 



200 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



Calvert, George, 131. 

Cambridge, officers ordered to as- 
sist civil authorities in protect- 
ing property at, 44; council of 
war at, decides to march upon 
the enemy, 30. 

Campbell, Lieutenant - General, 
133. 

Canada, irruption into, 14. 

Cape Henry, severe storm off, 140. 

Carey, Robert, merchant, London, 
23. 

Carey, Mathew, publisher of " The 
Museum," 109. 

Carleton, General Sir Guy, 66; 
sends despatches announcing 
general peace, 53; informs Wash- 
ington of peace negotiations, 
118. 

Carlisle, Washington reviews 
troops at, 150. 

Carrington, Colonel Edward, 55. 

Carrington, Colonel and Mrs., of 
Virginia, 177. 

Carroll, Charles, 6. 

CarroU, Daniel, of Maryland, 13. 

Carroll, John, Archbishop, is 
thanked by Washington for 
work among the Indians, 54. 

Cartel for the exchange of pris- 
oners, 142. 

Carter, Colonel Charles, 183. 

Catawba tribe of Indians, 178. 

Catharine, Empress of Russia, 6. 

Catholic Church, contribution to 
the new, 176. 

Caughnawaga Indians, delegation 
of, 11, 12, 13. 

Census, the first, act of Congress 
on that subject, 29. 

Ceres, British vessel, 177. 

Chamberlain, Colonel, mansion of, 
30. 

Champlin, Miss Margaret, 36. 

Champs, Sergeant-Major John, of 
Lee's Legion, 155. 

Chaplains, their pay, etc., 20. 

Charleston, evacuation of, 12 ; ca- 
pitulation of, 81. 

ChastelUix, Chevalier, 60 ; receives 
letter from Washington regard- 
ing marriage, 61 ; at Hasbrouck 
House, 158; takes leave of Wash- 
ington, 180. 

Chatterton Hills, or White Plains, 
Battle of, 159. 

Chaudron, Simon, delivers an 
address, 1. 

Christmas at Mount Vernon, 189. 

Church, Dr. Benjamin, member of 
committee, 96 ; first traitor, 146 
to be closely confined, 164. 

Cincinnati, Society of the, general 
meeting, 62. 

Clarke's farm-house, 7. 

Claypoole, David C, editor of 
" Daily Advertiser," Philadel- 
phia, i38. 

Clinton, Governor, 39. 

Clinton, Sir Henry, evacuates 
Philadelphia, 90. 

Cobbett, William, alias Peter Por- 
cupine, 6. 



Cochran, Dr., and ladies invited 
to dinner, 121. 

Coit, Captain, blunders upon two 
vessels, 16. 

Commerce, injuries sustained by, 
10. 

Commissary Department, 3. 

Commissary-General of Prisoners, 
49. 

Commissary-General of Pur- 
chases, 115. 

Commissary of Hides, 172. 

Commissioners of Embarkation, 
86. 

Congress, appoints the Superin- 
tendent of Finance, Secretary of 
War, and Secretary of Marine, 
20 ; appoints day of fasting, 60 ; 
committee of, reports arrange- 
ments for the inauguration, 62 ; 
first, action on naval affairs by, 
147 ; passes resolutions of sor- 
row upon the death of Washing- 
ton, 188; creates the Depart- 
ment of State, 110. 

Congress, Colonial, proclaims war 
against Great Britain, 100. 

Congress of Massachusetts Bay 
provides for the reception of 
Washington, 94. 

Connecticut adopts the Constitu- 
tion, 5. 

Constitution adopted and the con- 
vention adjourns, 137 ; not free 
from eiTors, 150. 

Continental army for the first time 
in full uniform, 136. 

Conway Cabal, 16. 

Conway's, Gen. letter to Gates, 165. 

Cooke, Nicholas, Governor of 
Rhode Island, 51, 159. 

Copley, John Singleton, 35. 

Cornwallis, Lord, arrives from 
England, 112; the surgeon sent 
by, 8 ; Congress prohibits his ex- 
change by composition, 27 ; ex- 
changed, 113 ; receives " his first 
salutation," 149; proposed ces- 
sation of hostilities at Yorktown, 
152 ; dines \vith Washington, 158. 

Coryell's Ferry, 112. 

Court of St. James, 88. 

Coxe, Rev. Thomas, entertained 
at Mount Vernon, 78. 

Craigie House, at the, 4. 

Craik, Doctor, friend and physi- 
cian of Washington, 184. 

Cumberland, militia reviewed at, 
152. 

Cunningham, Anna Parmela, ->. 

Currency, depreciation of, 168. 

Custine, Count de. presents Mrs. 
Washington with French china, 
106. 

Custis, George Washington Parke, 
37. 

Custis, John Parke, marriage of, 
18 ; dies at Eltham, 163. 

Ciistis, Martha Parke (afterward 
Mrs. Thomas Peter), 18 ; alarm- 
ingly ill, 82 ; dies at Mount Ver- 
non, 90. 

Custis, Nellie Parke, 9, 12. 



Dana, Francis, 6. 

Dandridge, Betsey, 22. 

Dance, the, known as "A Suc- 
cessful Campaign," 36. 

Darragh, Lydia, 179. 

Davies, Rev. Samuel, 121. 

Davis, Rev. Thomas, of Christ 
Church, Alexandria, 171 ; offi- 
ciates at Washington's funeral, 
186. 

Deane, Silas, 131. 

Deane, Simeon, 65. 

Deer paddock, 36. 

Definitive Treaty of Peace cele- 
brated, 160. 

De Lancey, Governor, of New 
York, at the Congress of Alex- 
andria, 56. 

Delaware adopts the Federal Con- 
stitution, 170. 

Delaware River, defenses of, exam- 
ined by Washington, 112. 

Department buildings, why lo- 
cated at a distance from the 
Capitol, 46. 

Department of State, Archives of, 
85. 

Department of War and Navy 
created, 116. 

D'Estaing, Count, French fleet 
under, 66 ; welcome of, 104. 

Dick, Doctor Elisha, friend and 
physician of Washington, 184, 
185. 

Dickenson, General Pliilemon, 115. 

Dickinson, John, President of 
Pennsylvania, 181. 

Digby, Admiral, 103. 

Dinwiddle, Governor, 7, 9, 14, 58, 
60; commissions Washington as 
lieutenant-colonel, 48 ; at the 
Congress of Alexandria, 56. 

Divine service held at New Wind- 
sor in New Building, 25. 

Dobbs Ferry to be fortified, 118. 

Dorchester Heights taken posses- 
sion of, 35. 

Dreer, Frederick, Jr., 12. 

Dryburgh Abbey, 65. 

Duane, Mayor James, 45. 

Duch^, Rev. Jacob, offers the first 
prayer in the General Congress, 
132 ; letter to General Washing- 
ton, 152. 

Dudley's, Dorothy, quaint rec- 
ord, 4 . 

Dumas, Count, 12. 

Dunlap's, William, play of "The 
Poor Soldier," 4. 

Dunmore, Governor, dissolves the 
House of Burgesses, 77. 

Duplessis, Major, at Mount Ver- 
non, 119. 

Duportail, Colonel, 145. 

Dupr6, Artist, 63. 

Duquesne, Fort, name changed to 
Fort Pitt, 173. 

Dutch Reformed Church, Raritan, 
N. J., 82. 

Duvivier, Artist, 45. 

Electoral College, 11. 
EUot, Dr. Andrew, 47. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



201 



Ellison, William, 92. 

Erie Canal predicted, 150. 

Ettwein, John, Moravian clergy- 
man, 66. 

Evacuation, of the forts of the Del- 
aware, 169 ; of Ticonderoga and 
Fortlndependence, 102 ; of York- 
town, 154. 

Everett, Edward, 33. 

Executive Mansion, corner-stone 
of, laid, 151. 

Exeter, jealousy between, and 
Portsmouth, 164. 

Fairfax, George William, in Lon- 
don, a lifelong friend of Wash- 
ington, 102. 

Fairfax, Hon. William, 60. 

Fairfax, Lord Thomas, 68. 

"Fair, to gratify the wishes of 
the," 172. 

Falmouth, destruction of, 157. 

FaneuU Hall, Declaration of Inde- 
pendence read in front of, 105. 

Fauntleroy, Miss Betsy, the Low- 
land Beauty, 75. 

Fauquier, Francis, Governor of 
Virginia, 89. 

Federal Hall, 64. 

Federalist, a miniature ship, 85. 

Federal TeiTitory, 18, 186; Com- 
missioners appointed, 13. 

Feuner. Governor of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantation, 83. 

Ferguson, Mrs. Hugh, of Graham 
Park, 152. 

Ferry, Coryells, army crosses at, 91. 

Fire ship, 112. 

First Congress, meeting of, 52. 

Fitch, John, 54. 

" Flag of the United Colonies," 1 ; 
raised at New York, 101. 

Flag of the United States estab- 
lished, 88. 

Flatfoot, Sarah, 18. 

Fleet, French, expected, 73. 

Fleet, General Howe's, arrives at 
New York, 102. 

Fleury, Count de, 2. 

Fhishing, Long Island, 150. 

Flying Camp, establishment of, 
82, 108. 

Folsom, Nathaniel, 6. 

Forbes, General, ill in Philadel- 
phia, 169. 

Foreign complications, 44. 

Fort Le Bceuf, 4, 9, 56. 

Fountain Inn, Baltimore, 133. 

France, the colors of, 3. 

France, Dauphin of, 79. 

Franklin, Benjamin, in Paris, 9 ; 
colonial deputy postmaster, 140. 

Fraunce, Samuel, 132. 

Fredericksburg, Colonel Washing- 
ton appeals to merchants of, for 
aid, 60. 

Freeholders of Fairfax County, 
106. 

French Alliance, banquet in cele- 
bration of, 10; celebration of 
anniversary of, 20. 

French arms arrive at Philadel- 
phia, 47. 



French army marches through 
Philadelphia, and is reviewed at 
the State House, 130. 

French frigate tolls her beU oppo- 
site Mount Vernon, 185. 

French, Major Christopher, 157. 

French prisoners at Winchester, 
84. 

French Speech-belt, 174. 

Friendship's Company, Alexan- 
dria, Va., 91. 

Frigate La Sensible, 65. 

Frontier, distress on, 127. 

Fry, Colonel, expedition to the 
Ohio, 48 ; at Winchester, 70 ; 
death of, 80. 

Fui'loughs, Washington opposed 
to, 106. 

Gage, General, remonstrated with, 
119 ; his cruelty to prisoners, 
123. 

Gansevoort, General, 95. 

Gates, Major-General, ordered to 
rejoin army, 147. 

General Assembly of Massachu- 
setts Bay, 47. 

General Treaty of Peace signed at 
Paris, Jan. 20, 48. 

Genet, French minister, 179. 

Georgetown, South Carolina, 63. 

Georgia, State of, recovered from 
the enemy, 122 ; adopts the Con- 
stitution, 2. 

Gerard, the first French minister, 
135 ; at Middlebrook, 66. 

Germantown, Battle of, 147. 

Gibbs, Caleb, 71. 

GiU, Moses, 96. 

Graham, Mrs. Catharine Macau- 
lay, 5. 

Grasse, Admiral Count de, 73. 

Gravesend Bay, British land at, 
124. 

Greene, Major-General, given com- 
mand of Southern army, 156. 

Gregorian Calendar, 22. 

Gregory, Mrs. Mildred, godmother 
to George Washington, 22. 

Greyhound at Dobbs Perry, 69. 

Griffin, Samuel, president of Wil- 
liam and Mary College, 27. 

Giilager, Christian, makes portrait 
of Washington, 162. 

Guy Fawkes' Day, soldiers re- 
buked, 163. 

Habersham, Joseph, of Georgia, 
Postmaster-General, 29. 

Haldimand, protest to, 128. 

Hale, Captain Nathan, goes on his 
fatal mission to Long Island, 136 ; 
executed as a spy, 140. 

" Hail Columbia " — the Presi- 
dent's march played at theater, 
173. 

Hamilton, Alexander, appointed 
aide-de-camp to Washington, 33 ; 
appointed Secretary of the Trea- 
siu'y, 134 ; named for raajor-gen- 
eralin the Provisional army, 103. 

Hamilton, Governor Henry, 116. 

Hancock, John, at Baltimore, 3; 



instructs Washington "not to 
hesitate to fire " upon his house 
in Boston, 38 ; Washington sends 
regrets to. 41 ; as President of 
Congress, informs Washington 
of his nomination, 89 ; Governor 
of Massachusetts, 158. 

Hand, General, an escort at Phil- 
adelphia, 181. 

Haney, Mrs., Washington's in- 
structions in regard to giving 
assistance to, 26. 

Hannah, Schooner, 130. 

Hanson, John, president of Con- 
gress, welcomes Washington, 
175. 

Harlem Heights, the Battle of, 
137. 

Harper's Ferry suggested by 
Washington as a location for an 
arsenal, 137. 

Harris Mansion, the old, 147. 

Harrison, Benjamin, 3, 10, 37, 67. 

Harrison, Richard, nominated 
first auditor, 169. 

Harvard College thanks artist for 
portrait of Washington, 128. 

Harvie, John, 6. 

Haviland's, Mrs., house in Rye, 
President Washington at, 152. 

Head of Elk, British land at, 126. 

Heath, Major-General, 6, 66. 

Heintz, Chevalier Juan de, 121. 

Henry, Patrick, receives letter 
from Washington regarding re- 
cruits, 55 ; opinion of the Gen- 
eral Congress, 128 ; one of a no- 
table trio, 131. 

Hickey, Thomas, executed for 
mutiny, 95. 

Highland forts visited in boats by 
the General, 166. 

Hippopotamus, Mr. Donaldson 
thanked for model of, 153. 

Hollingshead, Mr., of Marj-land, 
152. 

Hopkins, Captain, 53. 

Hopkinson, Francis, author of 
"Hail Columbia," 73. 

Houdon, Jean Antoine, arrives at 
Mount Vernon, 148 ; present at 
a wedding at Mount Vernon, 152. 

House of Burgesses, resolution of, 
81. 

Howard, Colonel John Eager, 24. 

Howe, Captain Bazaleel, given 
care of Washington's baggage 
for Mount Vernon, 165. 

Howe, General Lord, hearing the 
tremendous shouting, 1 ; near 
Middlebrook, 94; requests that 
American surgeons be sent to 
care for their wounded, 135. 

Howe, Robert, Major-General, 
thanked by Commander-in-chief, 
16. 

Hubbardton, disastrous engage- 
ment of, 102. 

Huddy, Captain Joshua. 66. 

Humphreys, Colonel David, 5, 45. 

Huntington, Governor, 17. 

Huntington, Lady, letter about 
Indians, 21. 



202 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



Huntington, Jedediah, Esq., at tlie 
house of Washington, confers 
with G(ivernor Trumbull, 53. 

Independent Companies, Fairfax 

County, Va., 91. 
Indian outbreak curtails Western 

tour of Washington, 164. 
Indian warfare, training the army 

for, 143. 
Iron HiU, 132. 
Irvine, General, the gallant, 5 ; 

wounded and made prisoner, 179. 

Jackson, Major, 5. 

James River Company, 3. 

Jamison, Lieutenant-Colonel, 140. 

Jay, Hon. John, 45. 

Jefferson, Thomas, Secretary of 

State, 2, 45. 
Johnson, Thomas, of Maryland, 

13. 
Journal of Military Transactions, 

65. 
"Journal of Survey," extract 

from, 44. 
"Journal to the Ohio," 9. 
JumonvUle, Captain, killed at 

Great Meadows, 79. 

Kalb, Baron de, grave of, 77. 

Kennon, Mrs. Beverly, 18. 

Kentucky admitted into the 
Union, 81. 

Keppel, Captain, at the Congress 
of Alexandria, 56. 

Key of the Bastile, 80 ; Washing- 
ton thanks Lafayette for, 118. 

King George, speech at the open- 
ing of Parliament, 26. 

King. Rufus, nominated minister 
to England, 74. 

Kings Chapel musical festival, 
158. 

King's Mountain, 63. 

Kirkland, Rev. Samuel, Oneida 
missionary, 47, 146. 

Knox, Henry, Colonel, regiment 
of artillery, 20 ; writes a descrip- 
tion of the ball given at Plucka- 
min, 31 ; chosen secretary of the 
Society of the Cincinnati, 90 ; 
first cabinet ofSeer nominated, 
116 ; Secretary of War and Navy, 
134 ; made colonel of artillery, 
169. 

Knyphausen. General, 188. 

Kosciusko, Thaddeus, placed in 
charge at West Point, 40 ; ap- 
pointed "Engineer of Conti- 
nental Service," 154 ; not able to 
visit Mount Vernon, 157. 

" Ladies' Mount Vernon Associa- 
tion of the Union," 12, 33. 

Lafayette, George Washington de, 
37, 51. 

Lafayette, Marchioness de, letter 
of sympathy to, 16, 51. 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 6, 12 ; sends 
despatches announcing peace, 
46 ; letter from Washington ex- 
pressing fears for the action of 



the republic, 51 ; arrives at Mor- 
ristown, 69 ; commissioned ma- 
jor-general in the Continental 
army, 112 ; opinion of Continen- 
tal soldiers, 118 ; wounded at the 
Battle of Brandywine, 134 ; pres- 
ent first time at council, 124. 

Lafayette and Washington to- 
gether for the last time, 175. 

Lancaster, clothing impressed in 
the county of, 142. 

Langdon, John, president of Con- 
gress, 56. 

Lansdowne, Marquis of, 54. 

Laurens, Colonel John, 53, 78. 

Laurens, Hon. Henry, Washing- 
ton the guest of, 18; Congress 
agrees to his conditional ex- 
change, 28 ; prisoner in the 
Tower of London, 57. 

Lauzun, Due de, of the "Lauzun 
Legion," 99. 

Laval, Marquis de, a guest of 
Washington at New Windsor, 
181. 

Lear, Tobias, 45, 79, 184; marries 
Fanny Bassett Washington, 124. 

Lee, Attorney-General, requested 
not to remain absent, 168. 

Lee, Charles, of Virginia, Attorney- 
General, 181. 

Lee, General Charles, arrives at 
Valley Forge, 59 ; takes the oath 
of allegiance, 85 ; placed under 
arrest. 96; captured near Veal- 
town, N. J., 183. 

Lee, Henry, his hunting-dogs, 24 ; 
entertains Washington, 55 ; se- 
lected to pronounce the eulogy 
on Washington, 188. 

Lee, Ludwell, 11. 

L'Enfant, Major, 15, 48; dismissed 
for refusal to obey orders, 30. 

Leonard, Rev. Abiel, appointed 
chaplain, 20 ; preaches upon the 
evacuation of Boston. 41. 

Leslie, Colonel, a British of&cer 
who fell at Trenton, 3. 

Lewis, Colonel Lawrence, 11 ; mar- 
ries Eleanor Parke Custis at 
Mount Vernon, 28. 

Lewis, John Delaware, M. P., 54. 

Lewis, Major HoweU, 7. 

Lewis, Mrs. Fielding, from Ken- 
more, 84. 

Lewis, Mrs. Lorenzo, 12. 

Lewis, Robert, nephew of Wash- 
ington, 46. 

Lexington, Washington visits 
field' of, 164. 

Liberty Hall, 79. 

Library, Lenox, New York, 138. 

Light Horse City Troop of Phila- 
delphia, 92. 

Light House at the Hook, 50. 

Lincoln, General, given command, 
127. 

Linderman, Henry R., director of 
the mint, 63. 

Liquor to be supplied to the In- 
dians, 114. 

Listen, Robert, British minister, 
108. 



Livingston, Robert R., 5; Chan- 
cellor, 64 ; mansion of, 127. 

Livingston, Van Brugh, mansion, 
Dobbs Ferry, 68. 

" Lodge of Sorrow," 1. 

Loggs Town, Major Washington 
arrives at, 173. 

Long Island, Battle of, 126. 

London, Lords of the Board of 
Trade of, 9. 

Louis XVI., a salute of sixteen 
guns fired in compliment to, 26; 
letter to the President from, 
35. 

Lovell, James, 16. 

Lowth, Robert, Bishop of London, 
27. 

Ludwig, Christopher Baker, Gen- 
eral, 61, 62 ; stanch patriot, 117. 

Luzerne, Marquis de la, Wash- 
ington writes from Morristown 
to, 19 ; introduces de Moustier to 
Washington, 20; receives diplo- 
matic medal, 63 ; gives a fete on 
the Dauphin's birthday, 105 ; 
entertains Washington at Fish- 
kUl, 141. 

Mabie's Tavern, Andr^ imprisoned 
in, 142. 

MacCubbin, Mrs. James, 188. 

Mackenzie, Captain, 149. 

Maclay, Senator WiUiam, 70, 147. 

Madison, James, Washington 
writes to, 34. 

Major-Generals, five, appointed 
(Stirling, MifQin, St. Claii-, Ste- 
phens, and Lincoln), 26. 

Manly, Captain, 182 ; as Commo- 
dore, is instructed to "dog" the 
British fleet leaving Boston, 38. 

Marblehead, widows of, 160. 

Marion, General, 88. 

Markoe, Captain, of Philadelphia, 
92. 

Marshal of France, Washington 
received with honors of a, 36. 

Maryland, adopts the Constitu- 
tion, 63 ; assembly of, 188. 

Mason, Colonel George. 3, 46. 

Mason. Major George Washington 
becomes a, 163. 

Masonic festivals, 190. 

Masons of Alexandria apply for 
charter, 172. 

Massachusetts fits out first vessels, 
106 ; State of, ratifies the Consti- 
tution, 20. 

McCurdy, John, 54. 

McDougal, General, chosen trea- 
surer of the Society of the Cin- 
cinnati, 63, 90. 

McHenry, James, Secretary of 
War, 14, 39, 100, 103. 

McKay, Captain, 54. 

McKean, Thomas, president of 
Congress, 128, 130 ; Chief Justice 
of Delaware, 28. 

McKonkeys Ferry, 189. 

Medals, Washington arranges with 
Secretary of State regarding, 
for retiring members of diplo- 
matic corps, 63. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



203 



Medal voted "Washington by Con- 
gress, 45. 

Mercer, Captain, accompanies Col- 
onel Washington to Boston, 
19. 

Mercer, General Hugh, funeral of, 
7,8. 

Mercer, Governor John Francis, 
of Maryland, 133. 

Mesmer, Dr., of Paris, 173. 

Middlebrook, General Washing- 
ton writes to Lafayette an en- 
couraging account of the condi- 
tion of the army at, 37. 

Mifflin, Colonel, 13. 

Military Dictator, Washington 
made, second time, 137. 

Mint of the United States, 170. 

" Mississippi Adventure," 97. 

Mississippi, mouth of the, 90. 

Monmouth Court House, Battle 
of, 95; vote of thanks for vic- 
tory at, 100. 

Monongahela, Battle of, 101. 

Montgomery, General James, 10, 
45. 

Monument, National, Washing- 
ton, 99. 

Moore Hall, 6. 

Moravian Church, Salem, N. C, 
81. 

Morgan, Daniel, colonel of the 
Virginia Rangers, 87; victory 
at Cowpens over Colonel Tarle- 
ton, 25. 

Morris, Captain Roger, 106 ; house, 
169. 

Morris, Gouverneur, 6 ; at the Con- 
gress of Alexandria, 56. 

Morris, Robert, Superintendent of 
Finance, 126 ; entertains Wash- 
ington at dinner, 83, 128, 189; 
nominates Washington presi- 
dent of the Constitutional Con- 
vention, 77. 

Morristown, " hutting" completed 
at, 24; Washington entertains 
Marquis de la Luzerne and Don 
Juan Murilles, 59 ; camp buried 
in severe snow-storm, 2 ; officers 
opened an assembly in camp at, 
31. 

Mossum, Rev. Dr., of St.Peter's, 4. 

Moultrie, General WiUiam, 117. 

Mount Vernon, entertainments at, 
134; foreign ministers at, 87; 
meat-house robbed, 84 ; original 
patent of, 33. 

Moustier, Count de, succeeds Lu- 
zerne as minister. 20 ; his and 
Madame de Brehan's departure, 
152 ; receives diplomatic medal, 
63. 

Moylan, Quartermaster, 182. 

Muir, Rev. James, 29. 

Murdering Town, 190. 

MuriUes, Don Juan, iU with pul- 
monary fever at Morristown, 61 ; 
dies at Washington's headquar- 
ters at Morristown, 64. 

Mutiny, among the New Jersey 
troops, 16 ; in the Pennsylvania 
line, 6. 



Nancy, brigantine, captured, 176. 

Nantes, nuns of, 50. 

Nash, General Francis, 149. 

National Military Academy, 183. 

National thanksgiving, 6. 

National University, Washing- 
ton's interest in, 15. 

Navarro, Don Diego, Governor of 
Cuba, 64. 

Navy of United Colonies, 160. 

Negroes enlisted at Cambridge, 
192. 

Nelson, Governor Thomas, of Vir- 
ginia, 40. 

Newark, army in, 172. 

"Newburg Addresses," the fa- 
mous, 38. 

Newburyport, President Wash- 
ington received at, 160. 

New Hampshire adopts the Con- 
stitution, 91. 

New Haven, President Washing- 
ton received at, 152. 

New Jersey ratifies the Federal 
Constitution, 186. 

New Levies sent by Governor 
Trumbull, 115. 

Newport, protected "without the 
firing of a gun," 113 ; the Presi- 
dent's voyage to, 119, 121. 

New Rochelle, 94. 

New York, evacuation of, deter- 
mined upon, 135 ; adopts the 
Federal Constitution, 110. 

Nicola, Colonel Lewis, rebuked by 
Washington, 76. 

Nook's HiU, 37, 41. 

North Carohna ratifies the Con- 
stitution, 171. 

North, Lord, " Conciliatory BiU," 
57. 

North River, position on, 159. 

Norwalk and Fairfield, principal 
export from, 153. 

Nova Scotia to Georgia, delegates 
from, 89. 

Officers, give a ball to Washington 
at Middlebrook, 42 ; rank distin- 
guished by color of ribbon, 104 ; 
utilizing the labor of f urloughed 
soldiers, 117. 

Old Brick Meeting House, 47. 

Oriskany, 63, (Fort Stanwix) 115. 

Orme, Captain Robert, 40. 

Paine, Thomas, author of " Com- 
mon Sense." 80, 87, 134 ; Wash- 
ington's opinion of, 16. 

Paramus, army arrives at, 148. 

Parker's Ford, army crosses at, 
139. 

Parks, Andrew, 52. 

Parsons, General, given orders in 
regard to the Tories, 27. 

Passamaquoddy chiefs, 189. 

Paulding. John, 140. 

Paulus Hook, surprise and capture 
of, 124, 179. 

Peter, Thomas, Esq., at Tudor 
Place, 18. 

" Peace, it is high time for a,'' 146. 

Peale, Captain Charles Willson, 10. 



Pendleton, Edmund, 13, 67. 
Pennsylvania Council of Safety, 

183. 
Pennsylvania ratifies the Federal 

Constitution, 183. 
Pennsylvania troops in mutiny, 

Pennybackers Mills, encampment 
at, 148. 

Philadelphia, attack on, proposed, 
173 ; Troop of Horse, 181. 

PhUipse, Mary (afterward Mrs. 
Roger Morris), 29. 

Pickering, Quartermaster-General 
Colonel, 13. 

Pickering, Timothy, Secretary of 
State, 181 ; Secretary of War, 29. 

Pidgeon Hill, Yorktown, 144. 

Pike, Nicholas, his system of arith- 
metic, 91. 

Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 77 ; 
offered portfolio of state, 125. 

Pinckney, Thomas, 74. 

Pine, Robert Edge, artist, 65. 

Piper, Mr., dined at Mount Vernon, 
22. 

"Pitcher, Captain MoUie," 95. 

Pitt, WilUam, first Earl of Chat- 
ham, 173. 

"Plow, Duck Bill," 36. 

Plowed HiU taken possession of, 
126. 

Poelnitz, Baron de, 11. 

Political suicide, 142. 

Poor, Brigadier-General Enoch, 
buried at Hackensack, 134. 

Portsmouth, barge excursion down 
the harbor of, 161 ; officers of 
British government seized at, 
167. 

Posey, Captain, survey of his wood- 
land, 36. 

Potomac Company, 3. 

Powder, great scarcity of, 114. 

Powel, Mr. Samuel, of Philadel- 
phia, 9. 

Price, Captain, 178. 

Princeton, Battle of, 2. 

Prisoners, leave Yorktown, 155; 
removed from Lancaster and 
York, 123. 

Proclamation, first national 
thanksgiving, 146; of neutrality, 
60 ; on Whisky Rebellion, 118. 

Providence, dinner in Town Hall, 
122. 

Provincial Congress of New York, 
93. 

Provoost, Bishop Samuel, 45, 64. 

Putnam, Major-General, in com- 
mand at New York, 75; eulo- 
gized by Washington, 83. 

Quaker HUl, headquarters at. 125. 

Quaker ladies (Mrs. Jones. Mrs. 
Drinker, Mrs. Pleasants) at Val- 
ley Forge, 52. 

Quakers, a delegation of the people 
called, 151 ; General Lacey is 
instructed to prevent them from 
attending "Yearly Meeting" in 
Philadelphia, 43. 

Quebec, City of, 10. 



204 



GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



Radi^re, Colonel, relieved at West 
Point, 40. 

Rammaffe, miniature by, 146. 

Ramsay^ William, friend and dis- 
tant relative of Washington, 15. 

Randolph, Edmund, 2, 131 ; Secre- 
tary of State, 181 ; resigns office, 
122. 

Randolph, Governor Beverly, 7. 

Rawdon, Lord, 88. 

Reed, Joseph, 6. 

Reed, Mrs. Esther, sends soldiers 
hard money, 117. 

Rhode Island adopts the Federal 
Constitution, 79. 

Richmond, Washington arrives at, 
169. 

Robertson, Archibald, artist, 65. 

Robinson, Beverly, 93; entertains 
Colonel Washington several 
days, 29. 

Robinson, Speaker John, 3. 

Rochambeau, Count de, celebrates 
the birthday of Washington at 
Newport, 23 ; receives the thanks 
of Washington for celebrating 
his birthday, 29 ; gives a ball at 
Newport in honor of Washing- 
ton, 36 ; at Wethersfleld, Conn., 
73 ; leaves for France, 184 ; re- 
turns from Versailles, 73. 

Rock Hall, 45. 

Rocky Hill, General and Mrs. 
Washington reach, 125. 

Roosevelt, Mrs., funeral of, 168. 

Rosebery, Lord, 54. 

Ross, John, of Chester County, 89. 

Rumsey's model of a boat, 40 ; the 
boat in motion, 54. 

Rutledge, Edmund, 77. 

Rutledge, John, 77. 

Sabbath day not traveled on in 
Connecticut. 165. 

Salaries, Washington writes Dr. 
Stuart concerning, 34. 

Saratoga Springs, Washington 
anxious to purchase, 119. 

Schenectady, N. Y., 96. 

Schuyler, General, in command at 
New York, 55, 93. 

Secret Committee of New York, 
103. 

Selectmen of Boston thank Wash- 
ington for delivery of their city, 
51. 

Seneca Nation, chiefs of the, 10, 
191. 

Sharp, Governor, of Maryland, at 
the Congress of Alexandria, 56. 

Shaw, Captain Nathaniel, 53. 

Shenandoah Valley, extracts from 
journal in the, 50, 55. 

Shirley, Governor, 7, 19 ; approves 
of Colonel Washington's posi- 
tion, 35 ; at the Congress of 
Alexandria, 56. 

Simiti^re, Pierre Eugene du, ar- 
tist, 17. 

Simms, Charles Little, 11. 

Skene, Governor, exchanged, 16. 

Smallpox in Washington's quar- 
ters at Frederick, 62. 



Society of the Cincinnati, 71 ; in 
Massachusetts, 159. 

Solomon, Captain Hendricks, a 
Stockbridge chief, 135. 

South Carolina adopts the Con- 
stitution, 76. 

Southern Tour, 52. 

Spottswood, Alexander, 23. 

"Spurious Letters," 7, 34. 

Squares in Federal City, 169. 

Stanwix, Colonel, 87. 

State, Department of, 3. 

State House, Philadelphia, dinner 
at, 141. 

Staten Island, British troops land 
at, 95 ; British forces massed at, 
116. 

Statue, equestrian, of Washing- 
ton, 116 ; of George III., destruc- 
tion of, 102. 

St. Clair, General, defeat of, 163; 
an escort at Philadelphia, 181. 

St. John the Baptist, feast of, 93. 

"St. Patrick" the countersign 
given " in honor of the Tutelar 
Saint of Hibernia," 41. 

St. Paul's Church, 64. 

St. Pierre, Chevalier Legardeurde, 
in command at Fort leBoeuf , 182. 

Steuben, Baron, arrives at Valley 
Forge, 25 ; in.spector-general, 
47, 67 ; directs parade at Morris- 
town, Gl ; officially thanked by 
the Commander-in-chief, 90. 

Stirling, Lord (William Alexan- 
der), 11. 

Stockton, Mrs. Richard, 108. 

Stophorst, Nicholas Van, 16. 

Stuart, David, of Virginia, 13. 

Stuart, Mrs. David, 9^ 

Stuart, Gilbert, appointment for 
a sitting, 54. 

Stuart, Hon. Henry Murray, 108. 

Sullivan, General John, officer of 
theday, 9, 41; charges preferred 
against him by Congress, 137 ; 
president of New Hampshire, 
161. 

Sumter, General, 88. 

Swearing, Washington's opinion 
of, 114. 

Taft, PoUy and Patsy, 165. 

Tallmadge, Colonel, has custody 
of Andr4, 142. 

Tappan, headquarters at De Wint 
House, 117. 

Tavern, Cape's, 177 ; " Bunch of 
Grapes," 48; City, Philadelphia, 
Washington entertained at, 59, 
183, 185 ; Fraunces', 179 ; Liberty 
Pole and Flag, 16, 125 ; Raleigh, 
78 ; Ship, lodged at, 82 ; Smith's, 
in the Clove, 86. 

Telfair, Edmund, Governor of 
Georgia, 75. 

Tennessee admitted into the 
Union, .50, 81. n 

Ternay, Chevalier de, 105. 

Thacher, Dr. James, leaves pen- 
portraits of Washington, 29. 

Theater party at Williamsburg, 
149. 



Theater, Southwark, Philadel- 
phia, 2, 4. 

"The Daily Sacrifice," 177. 

" The irruption into Canada," 39. 

The order of the Society of the 
Cincinnati celebrate Washing- 
ton's birthday, 28. 

The Provisional army, Washing- 
ton urged to accept command of, 
92. 

The Tammany Society, or The 
Columbian Order, 28. 

The True American Inn, 192. 

Thomas, General John, urged not 
to resign, 108. 

Thompson, Charles, secretary of 
Congress, 12; delivers letter to 
Washington announcing his 
election as President of the 
United States, 56 ; colonel of the 
Virginia Sharpshooters, 110 ; at 
Letchmore's Point, 166. 

Thornton, Dr. WiUiam, 45. 

Tilghman, Colonel Tench, 6. 

Tour through Eastern States, 151. 

Treaty, Jay's, with Great Britain, 
111, 117. 

Trenches before Yorktown, 148. 

Trent, Captain, 48. 

Trenton, President-elect reaches, 
59. 

Trenton Works, fishing at, 115. 

Trinity Church, New York, 45. 

TriompJie, the French frigate, 48. 

Triplet, William, engaged to build 
two houses at Mount Vernon, 
46. 

Trumbull, Colonel Joseph, ap- 
pointed commissary -general. 112. 

Trumbull, Governor Jonathan, 
"Brother Jonathan," 13; urged 
to uniform Connecticut troops, 
13; dined with Washington at 
Mr. Piatt's, Hartford, 41. 

Trumbull, Jonathan. Jr., 3. 

Trumbull, John, artist, 12 ; in Lon- 
don, 93 ; engravings of pictures 
by, 171. 

Tryon, Governor, 93. 

Tudor, William, first Judge Advo- 
cate, 112. 

Turnip field surveyed, 30. 

University of Pennsylvania, 43. 

Valley Forge, dissatisfaction of of- 
ficers with the dilatory action of 
Congress, 45; General Washing- 
ton gives thanks to his soldiers 
at, 33 ; great distress at, 25 ; head- 
quarters established at, 189 ; visit 
to, 6. 

Van Braam. Jacob, Washington's 
Master of Fence, 129. 

Van Wart, Isaac, 140. 

Vaughn's, General, vandalism, 
161. 

Vaughn. Samiiel, presents marble 
mantel to Washington, 19. 

Vaughn, Sr., Mr., visit to, 170. 

Venango, Washington reaches, 
188. 

Vergennes, Count de, 171. 



GENEKAL INDEX. 



205 



Vermont admitted into tlie Fed- 
eral Union, 26. 

Verplanck's Point, second anniver- 
sary of the meeting of Wash- 
ington and Rochambeau at, 139. 

Versailles, court of, 116. 

Veto of Apportionment of Repre- 
sentatives Bill, 51. 

Veto of the Military Bill, 31. 

Ville de Paris, flag-ship of the 
French, 138. 

Virginia, adopts the Federal Con- 
stitution, 93 ; Legislature of, re- 
solves to erect a statue of 
Washington, 92. 

Virginia troops send Colonel 
Washington an address, 192. 

Wadsworth, Colonel Peleg, 139. 

Wakefield, Westmoreland County, 
Virginia, 28. 

Walker, Benjamin, Esq., 7. 

Wallace box, 65. 

Wallingford, Conn., President 
Washington at, 154. 

Want of provisions clogs opera- 
tions, 150. 

Ward, Colonel James, 106. 

Ward, General Artemus, 51, 170. 

Warm Springs, Virginia, 122. 

Warren, General, 45. 

Washington Association of New 
Jersey, 12. 

Washington, Augustine, father of 
George, 22 ; dies, 55. 

Washington, Charles, marriage 
of, 144. 

Washington, Fort, grief over sur- 
render of, 170. 

Washington, George, appointed 
surveyor of Culpeper County, 
Va., 108 ; record of birth v\^ritten 
by, 22 ; first visit to Greenway 
Court, seat of Lord Fairfax, 
39; attends the wedding of his 
half-brother Lawrence, 106 ; ar- 
rives at Barbados, 162 ; sails 
for Barbados, 138; sails from 
Carlisle Bay, Barbados, 188; 
writes Colonel Lawrence Lewis 
regarding license of marriage, 
12 ; tries drill plowing at 
Muddy Hole, 53 ; called to Fred- 
ericksburg by illness of his mo- 
ther and sister, 62 ; personal care 
of his negroes, 159 ; nominated by 
Thomas Johnson of Maryland 
88; made first LL. D. by Har- 
vard College, 50 ; confirmed as 
Lieutenant-General of the Pro- 
visional army, 98 ; writes to his 
nephew regarding slavery, 121 ; 
comments upon the personal 
attack made on him, 6 ; comments 
on the Stamp Act, 139 ; arrives 
at New York from Elizabeth- 
town, 60 ; resigns his commis- 
sion, 188; of Virginia, made 
General and Commander-in- 
chief of the Provisional army 
of the United States, 34; last 
will and testament of, 11 : 
signs and dates his will, 101 ; 



dies at Mount Vernon, 184 ; the 
body of, laid in the family 
Y3Mlt at Mount Vernon, 186 ; the 
obsequies of, 28; and Martha, 
remains removed, 148 ; employed 
by Lord Fairfax, 38. 

Washington, Major, arrives at 
Williamsburg, 9 ; reaches Fort 
le Boeuf, 182 ; reaches WiUs 
Creek, 4 ; receives commission 
as lieutenant-colonel, 48 ; return- 
ing from Bai'bados, calls upon 
Governor Dinwiddle, 31 ; takes 
leave of his mother, 129. 

Washington, Lieutenant^Colonel, 
at Great Meadows. 79 ; at- 
tempts to navigate the Youghi- 
ogany, 75 ; at Youghiogany, 74. 

Washington, Colonel, makes ap- 
peal for the Virginia troops, 14 ; 
sends Captain Orme a map of the 
back country, 50 ; offers reward 
for recovery of two convict ser- 
vants, 61 ; approves engagement 
of John Parke Custis to Eleanor 
Calvert, 50 ; present at the open- 
ing of the General Congress, 131 ; 
breakfasts at Wilmington and 
dines at Chester, 131 ; ill at Alex- 
andria, 165 ; at the Congress of 
Alexandria, 56 ; at WiUiams- 
burg, 67; and Dr. Craik's jour- 
ney to the Ohio, 148 ; at Win- 
chester to divide soldiers' land, 
35 ; description of Braddock, 08 ; 
appeals to Lord Fairfax for 
militia, 58 ; and Mrs. Martha 
Dandridge Custis, married, 
4; present at the convening 
of the second Continental Con- 
gress, 70 ; negro quarters struck 
by lightning, 74 ; at Cumberland, 
Md., 72; writes from the fron- 
tier to Governor Dinwiddle, 76 ; 
reaches Wills Creek, 80 ; at 
Fort Loudoun, 80 ; returns 
from his second visit to Mrs. 
Custis, 87 ; starts for the sec- 
ond Continental Congress, 67 ; 
buys his engagement ring, 07; 
accepts the command of the 
Virginia troops, 85; and Mrs., 
receive Mr. and Jlrs. John 
Parke Custis at Mount Vernon, 
33 ; grafts trees at Mount Ver- 
non, 43 ; in Philadelphia en route 
to Boston, 21 ; chosen vestry- 
man of Christ Church, Alexan- 
dria, 47 ; goes fox-hunting, 23 ; 
and Peter ("my Smith") experi- 
ment in making a plow, 42 ; 
chosen a member of second 
General Congress, 43 ; gives or- 
ders to his tailor, Old Fish Street, 
London. 62 ; leaves Mount Ver- 
non to join Braddock at Fred- 
ericktown, 60 ; resigns com- 
mand of Virginia militia, 191; 
ill with fever at Mount Vernon, 
104 ; capitulates Fort Necessity, 
99 ; starts to join General Brad- 
dock, 97 ; issues instriictions to 
captains of Provincial troops, 



111 ; arrives at Mount Vernon 
from the Braddock campaign, 
110 ; hears of his election to the 
House of Burgesses, 109; and 
Mrs., attend marriage of John 
Parke Custis, 18 ; letter to 
Martha Custis, 107 ; meets Mrs. 
Martha Dandridge Custis, 30; 
inquires about mode of declar- 
ing war, 119 ; attends Williams- 
burg Convention, 113; chosen 
a delegate to Congress, 115 ; 
elected to the House of Bur- 
gesses, 177. 
Washington, General, at Newburg, 
receives the king's speech, 70; 
forbids coi-respondence with 
ships of war belonging to Great 
Britain, 63 ; reaches New York, 
attended by General Gates and 
William Palfrey. 55; receives a 
committee from the Virginia 
Assembly, 104 ; first engage- 
ment near Roxbury, 101 ; orders 
that sentries be natives of this 
country, 100; orders a feu-de- 
joie to celebrate the Fourth of 
July, 99 ; issues his first order 
at Cambridge, 99 ; takes com- 
mand of the army at Cambridge, 
98 ; received at Watertown by 
the Provincial Congress, 98 ; 
suggests uniform for the Conti- 
nental soldiers, 112 ; last entry of 
accounts with the Government, 
97; gives his opinion of Lord 
Cornwallis, 112 ; crosses the 
Delaware marching on Philadel- 
phia, 112 ; explains the move- 
ments of the two armies about 
New York, 111 ; makes prepara- 
tions to attack New York, 111 ; 
at Preakness, 110 ; at " Sun 
Inn,'' Bethlehem, 109 ; estab- 
lishes headquarters at Ramapo, 
109 ; makes three divisions of his 
troops, 108 ; congratulates the 
army on the arrival of the 
French forces at Rhode Island, 
107; orders the army to attend 
divine sei-vice with arms and 
ammunition, 107 ; orders the re- 
moval of Harvard students to 
Concord, 107 ; acknowledges res- 
olution of March 25. 1776, 58 ; 
Commander-in-chief, mourner 
at funeral of Don Juan Murilles. 
64 ; Commander-in-chief, orders 
"Cessation of Hostilities," 58; 
thanks Congress for the com- 
munication regarding news of 
peace, 48; describes the posi- 
tion of the enemy at Boston, 48, 
110; visits the old cantonment 
at Valley Forge, 112; returns to 
Newburg after an absence of 
seven months, 49 ; received at 
Princeton by Congress, 126; de- 
clines the 150 shares of stock 
voted him by the Assembly, 30 ; 
forbids games of chance in the 
army, 30; writes John Jay re- 
garding General Gates, 50 ; gives 



206 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON DAY BY DAY. 



Lafayette a command with the 
hope of capturing Arnold, 27 ; 
suggestions in regard to bounty, 
17 ; accounts with United States 
of America, 1 ; in regard to tu- 
tors and secretaries, 20 ; orders 
the first hadge of distinction for 
his soldiers, 85 ; holds a council 
of war at Valley Forge, 69 ; es- 
timates the stores at West Point, 
69 ; starts for the Constitutional 
Convention, 69; writes from 
MiddlebrooktoGouverneur Mor- 
ris, 69 ; leaves for Ringwood, 
N. J., to arrange for exchange of 
prisoners, 58 ; dines with Sir (jtuy 
Carleton, 69 ; rebukes Lund 
Washington for supplying Brit- 
ish vessel, 64 ; sends letter of 
condolence to Lady Stirling, 11 ; 
required to appear before Con- 
gress, 73 ; observes May 17 with 
"fasting, humiliation, and 
prayer," 73; chosen president 
of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion, 77 ; meets with the Consti- 
tutional Convention at Philadel- 
phia, 72 ; thanks the Univer- 
sity of Yale for the degree of 
Doctor of Laws, 72; organizes 
his guard at New York, 71 ; ar- 
ranges for a meeting with Ro- 
chambeau, 73; signs the oath 
required by Congress at Valley 
Forge, 71; arrives at Philadel- 
phia, 71 ; approves of the work 
done by army chaplains, 44 ; at 
the head of the army, enters 
Boston, 43 ; limits one sutler to 
a regiment, 21 ; suggests con- 
necting by canal the Ohio and 
Chesapeake Bay, 23 ; appeals 
for cattle to Delaware, Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland, and Virginia, 
25 ; urges his mother to rent her 
homestead, 24 ; proposes to at- 
tack Boston over the ice, 25 ; 
writes extolling the life of a hus- 
bandman, 23; issues pardon to 
all deserters, 21 ; gratified at the 
action of his officers in regard 
to the Newburg Addresses, 41 ; 
orders 1000 men who had had 
smallpox to enter Boston, 42 ; 
writes Lafayette in regard to the 
failure of the Canadian expedi- 
tion, 38 ; regrets the delay in 
presenting Rochambeau the ord- 
nance voted by Congress, 21 ; 
writes to president of Congress 
regarding •' credit of our mon- 
ey," 60 ; urges enlistment of Ger- 
man prisoners, 62; writes regard- 
ing embroidery of uniforms, 14 ; 
writes secretary of Congress re- 
garding his original commission, 
12 ; gives advice to his nephew 
Bushrod, 8 ; writes Lafayette 
that the enemy evacuated the 
Carolinas, 5 ; arranges for the 
evacuation of New York, 68 ; cir- 
cular letter discussed by Con- 
gress, 86; letter to Governor 



Livingstone regarding plot of 
assassination, 53 ; opens the ball 
with Mrs. Knox at Pluckamin, 
26 ; orders Lafayette to com- 
mand " a valuable detachment," 
74 ; chosen president- general of 
the Society of the Cincinnati, 90 ; 
determines to attack Sir Henry 
Clinton, 76 ; leaves New York for 
Philadelphia, 75 ; accompanied 
by Charles Thompson, starts for 
the seat of Government, 57 ; cir- 
cular letter issued by Congress, 
90 ; refuses pay for his services, 
89; reviews militia at Philadel- 
phia, 78 ; superintends his im- 
provements at Mount Vernon, 
78 ; celebrates at VaUey Forge 
the ratification of the French 
alliance, 67, 68 ; is informed of 
the French Alliance Treaty, 65 ; 
published "Proclamation of Con- 
gress ordering Cessation of Hos- 
tilities, " 58 ; Commander-in-chief, 
writes circular letter regard- 
ing levying of troops, 11 ; Com- 
mander-in-chief, at Cambridge, 
prepares instructions regulating 
pay, 9; issues proclamation re- 
garding oath of allegiance to 
United States of America, 13 ; 
and Governor CUntou, endeavor 
to buy land at Saratoga, 115 ; 
and Lafayette meet, 114 ; at 
West Point, 107 ; writes Lafay- 
ette on his retirement, 18 ; 
birthday celebrated at Cam- 
bridge, Dorchester County. Md., 
22 ; takes possession of New 
York, 173 ; farewell to the army, 
161 ; notes planting willow-trees 
at Mount Vernon, 42 ; favors in- 
oculation, 84; social relaxation, 
81 ; made military dictator, 190 ; 
prepares to obey the summons 
of Congi-ess to take the execu- 
tive chair, 46 ; retaliates, 160 ; 
congratulates army at York- 
town, 155; orders the execution of 
Major Andre. 145 ; his orders re- 
garding gaming, 146 ; thanks the 
French ofiicers at Yorktown, 
151 ; attends the commence- 
ment at Princeton College, 141 ; 
reaches Hartford and welcomes 
the French officers, 139 ; em- 
barks on the Queen Charlotte to 
interview the French admiral, 
138 ; establishes headquarters at 
the Morris House, Harlem, 136 ; 
arrives at Mount Vernon en 
route for Yorktown, 133; estab- 
lishes headquarters at Wythe 
House, Williamsburg, 135 ; took 
post near Chadd's Ford, 133 ; 
and his staff are received at Bal- 
timore, 133 ; appoints commis- 
sioners to settle a cartel for ex- 
change of prisoners, 133 ; in- 
spects an ironing-machine called 
a mangle, 130 ; divides his army 
in New York into three divisions, 
132 ; receives news of the arrival 



of the French fleet in Chesapeake 
Bay, 131; notifies Congress of his 
arrival at Annapolis, 187 ; from 
Valley Forge congratulates the 
army on the arrival of ordnance 
from France, 187 ; orders labora- 
tories established at Hartford 
and York, 186 ; returns visits 
at AnnapoUs, 187 ; adopted into 
"The Society of the Friendly 
Sons of St. Patrick," 185; re- 
ceives the President and Su- 
preme Executive Council of 
Pennsylvania, 182; from Gulf 
Mill thanks the army for its 
fortitude and patience, 185 ; 
leaves Philadelphia for the last 
time, 184 ; attacked by his mor- 
tal illness, 183 ; takes his last 
ride, 183 ; crosses the Delaware 
at Trenton, 181 ; takes leave of 
his officers, 179; attends the 
second session of the fifth Con- 
gress, 178 ; orders fireworks in 
New York, 178 ; answers an ad- 
dress from the inhabitants of 
the Kingdom of Ireland, 178 ; 
establishes headquarters at 
Ford House, Morristown, 180; 
inspects lands and rivers among 
the Alleghany Mountains, 129 ; 
reaches Princeton after march- 
ing all night, 178 ; and Mrs., in- 
vite friends to meet " the couple 
just married," 29; and Mrs., re- 
turn to Middlebrook from Phila- 
delphia, 19. 
Washington, George, of Virginia, 
chosen President of the United 
States, 52; approves an act fix- 
ing postage and conferring the 
franking privilege, 27; approves 
of first Patent Law, 54; approves 
the act locating the seat of Gov- 
ernment, 105; dines with the 
citizens of Charleston, 66; at 
New York, attends the first in- 
augural ball, 68 ; dines with the 
Governor of South Carolina, 68 ; 
urges the extension of the boun- 
dary of the Federal City, 68 ; at 
Camden, S. C, 77 ; at Columbia, 
S. C, 77 ; gives his first state 
dinner at New York, 79; re- 
turns fi-om his Southern tour, 
87 ; official advisers of, 82 ; ar- 
rives at Charleston, S. C, 66; 
leaves Savannah, Ga., 72; ap- 
peals to Austria for the release 
of Lafayette, 72 ; general of the 
Society of the Cincinnati, 73 ; 
receives the committee of the 
Senate, 74 ; leaves Augiista, Ga., 
75 ; gives a dinner at Executive 
Mansion, No. 3 Cherry Street, 19 ; 
requests his cabinet to arrange 
ceremony of inauguration, 35; 
designates the public reserva- 
tions in Washington City, 34; 
last official act, 34 ; replies to 
the protest of the Selectmen of 
Boston, HI; describes the good 
influence of the General Govern- 



GENERAL INDEX. 



207 



ment upon tlie Southern States, 
111 ; annoyance at neglect of 
census in North Carolina, 61 ; 
" dined and lodged with my sis- 
ter Lewis " at Fredericksburg, 
53 ; President-elect, triumphal 
march of, 56 ; meets landholders 
of the Federal District, 48 ; takes 
the oath of office as President, 
64; first annual address to 
Congress, 5 ; gives a theater 
party at New York, 70 ; calls 
on the widow of General Green, 
71 ; appears before Congress 
for the last time, 170 ; writes a 
letter of condolence to General 
Knox, 133 ; favors giving sites 
to foreign ministers in the capi- 
tal, 137; as Master Mason as- 
sists in laying the corner-stone 
of the Capitol, 138 ; issues his 
farewell address to the people, 
138 ; five nephews in the field, 
143; starts for Western Penn- 
sylvania, 145 ; delivers second 
annual address, 157; received 
at Boston, 157 ; starts on his 
Southern tour, 43 ; urges the re- 
peal of the tax on transportation 
of public prints, 178; and Mrs., 
entertain at Executive Mansion, 
Philadelphia, 31 ; ex-President, 
Master Mason, 51 ; leaves Phila- 
delphia for Mount Vernon, 37. 

Washington, George Steptoe, 11. 

Washington, Harriet, placed in 
care of Mrs. Lewis, 161. 



Washington, John Augustine, 33, 
63. 

Washington Lodge, Alexandria, 
Va., arranges for the funeral 
rites, of masonry, 185. 

Washington, Lund, distant rela- 
tive and trusted friend, 174. 

Washington, Major Lawrence, 
dies at Mount Vernon, 110. 

Washington, Martha, arrives at 
Cambridge, 182 ; by the bedside 
of her dying husband, 184 ; dies 
at Mount Vernon, 76 ; writes 
a quaint letter to Mrs. Morris, 
186. 

Washington, Mary, alarmed at her 
son's idea of joining Braddock, 
50 ; asks advice of her brother, 
74 ; dies at Fredericksburg, Va., 
125 ; mother of George, 22. 

Washington, Richard, London 
merchant, 51. 

Washington, Samuel, 11. 

WashingtQu, Wmiam, 24, 63. 

Wayne, General Anthony, at 
Paoli, 160. 

Weare, Meshech, Washington's 
letter to, 17. 

Wentz House, Worcester, Pa., 154. 

West Indies in distress from hurri- 
canes, 176. 

West Point, General Washington 
receives answer to his farewell 
address at, 168. 

Wheatley, Miss PhiUis, 31. 

White, Bishop, of Pennsylvania, 

o9» 



Whitehouse, New Kent County, 
Va., 4. 

White Plains court-house set on 
fire, 164. 

Whiting, Mr. Beverly, godfather 
to George Washington, 22. 

WUlard, Joseph, corresponding 
secretary of American Acad- 
emy, 44. 

William and Mary College an ob- 
ject of veneration, 158. 

Williams, David, 140. 

Wolcott, Oliver, 17. 

Wooster, General, the fall of the 
gallant, 63. 

Worcester, Washington to leave 
his coach at, 155. 

Works of defense at New York, 
56. 



"Yankee Club, The," Stewards- 
town, County Tyrone, Ireland, 

Yellow fever in Philadelphia, 156. 

Yeomanry, five battles of the, 63. 

York Island, an attack on, 97. 

Yorktown, colors taken at, 192 ; 
Congress resolves to erect col- 
umn at, 1.59; exterior works 
abandoned, 144; investiture of, 
143 ; ordnance and stores dis- 
posed of at, 168. 

Young, Arthur, 183. 



Zinzendorf, Count, 66. 



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